Piyush Goyal Marks 12 Years of Make in India
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Twelve years after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled a campaign that would reshape how the world looked at Indian manufacturing, Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal marked the anniversary on 25 September 2026 with a pointed celebration of the ground covered — and a clear signal that the mission is far from over.
Posting on X, Goyal wrote: 'Bharat ka talent, Bharat ki technology, Bharat ki mehnat, Bharat ke utpaad aur Bharat ka hi naam' — 'India's talent, India's technology, India's hard work, India's products and India's very own name' — crediting Prime Minister Modi's 'visionary leadership' for drawing global attention to the #12YearsOfMakeInIndia milestone.
A campaign born on 25 September 2014
Make in India was launched by PM Modi on 25 September 2014 with a single, ambitious goal: lift manufacturing's share of India's GDP and pull the country deep into global value chains. The iconic roaring lion, assembled from cogs and gears, became one of the most recognisable symbols of any Indian policy initiative in a generation. For the first time, India was pitching itself not just as a market, but as a factory floor for the world.
The initiative targeted 25 sectors — from defence and aerospace to textiles and food processing — aiming to make India a global manufacturing hub while creating millions of jobs at home. It was as much a branding exercise as a structural reform, sending a message to boardrooms from Tokyo to Detroit that India was open for business on its own terms.
PLI schemes: the second engine
The campaign found a powerful second wind from 2020 onwards, when the government layered Production Linked Incentive (PLI) schemes across key sectors — semiconductors, mobile phones, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, and more. The PLI architecture tied government incentives directly to incremental production, forcing manufacturers to perform, not just promise. Together, Make in India and the PLI framework form the twin pillars of India's current industrial policy.
For Goyal, who sits at the intersection of trade, investment promotion, and industry as Commerce Minister, the anniversary is not merely symbolic. It is a ledger he is expected to defend in every bilateral trade negotiation and every FDI pitch India makes abroad.
What the next chapter looks like
Analysts and policymakers will watch the next official rounds of manufacturing output data and FDI inflow figures to benchmark how much of the anniversary rhetoric translates into hard numbers. Upcoming reviews of PLI scheme expansions, especially in sunrise sectors like green energy and electronics, will test whether the momentum holds into the programme's second decade.
Twelve years in, Make in India is no longer a promise — it is a record waiting to be read. The world, as Goyal's post insists, is watching.