CII @ Cannes 2013

India Hogs Limelight at Cannes 2013

The CII Stand at Palais, the tourism boards of Maharashtra, Gujarat and West Bengal highlighted India’s treasured locations and attracted global filmmakers and producers. CII also launched the second edition of India Location and Services Guide to reach out to global filmmakers at Cannes. Five Indian States — Maharashtra, Gujarat, Delhi, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal were part of the CII booth.The immediate attraction at Cannes for global film-makers is 2012 Oscar winner Ang Lee’s ‘Life of Pi’ which was partly filmed in Puducherry and Munnar. This has given a new fillip to India’s vast unexplored locales.

The global film fraternity showed keen interest in shooting their movies in India. The announcement at Cannes Film Festival by the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting and Ministry of Tourism to simplify procedures for shooting films in India through a single window clearance and the creation of an online portal for application processing brought delight to the film-makers. Although India does not provide sops for film shoots, creation of a transparent mechanism and efficiency in facilitation would bring more film shoots to India.

With 28 States, 67 languages, 850 million people under the age of 35, five hundred TV channels, three billion cinema ticket sales and no major restrictions, India offers immense opportunity for filmmakers not only to shoot in India, but simultaneously work on an Indian version of the film that will give business access in India. And, there are no
restrictions to dub and release the film in as many as five languages. More than anything else, India has access to world class technicians and equipment and an amazing choice of locations to shoot any type of film. Skilled professionals are available across the country.

CII has also taken the task to promote and position Indian regional films and create a platform for filmmakers across the country. The regional cinemas of India have a great potential. We will create a national and global identity for regional films.

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The Cannes Film Market also provided a platform for us to engage with thought leaders at Cannes for our forthcoming India — The Big Picture Summit (September 13-14, 2013, Taj Palace, New Delhi). Send your views to our M&E division head amita.sarkar@cii.in

Action Agenda for the Manufacturing Sector

Manufacturing is the engine for India’s economic growth and plays a pivotal role in the country’s sustainable and equitable growth. It has the potential to generate employment for a skilled, semiskilled as well as a non-skilled workforce and capitalize on the demographic dividend that the country enjoys.

While the sector has played a fundamental role in opening up the Indian economy to foreign investment and investors, created opportunities for domestic manufacturers to grow and compete in foreign markets and placed India among attractive destinations for investments, Indian manufacturing has a long way to go before it achieves the National Manufacturing Policy (NMP) set target of contributing 25 per cent to the GDP, and realizes it’s true potential.

Given the strong potential and the far reaching impact of manufacturing in employment generation, investments and infrastructure development, both the Government and the industry acknowledge

its strategic importance and see a central role for manufacturing-led industrial development of the economy. However, the current economic environment presents various challenges. Macro

economic issues such as moderation in GDP growth, rising inflation, high interest rates and the widening current account deficit, coupled with micro-economic issues such as a complex business regulatory framework, sluggish implementation process of industrial reforms, high compliance costs, inadequate infrastructure, rigid labour norms, time consuming clearances and approval processes, land acquisition issues, rising instances of industrial disputes and non-availability of requisite workforce have impacted the entire industry. This environment has not only hampered manufacturing growth, but also the overall growth of the Indian economy.

Therefore, the need of the hour is a robust decision making and policy implementation system to revive and re-ignite growth in manufacturing. The Government has already initiated the process of implementing the NMP and notified 12 National Investments and Manufacturing Zones (NIMZs) across the country. These zones will help overcome various challenges and issues faced by

manufacturing today and facilitate high manufacturing growth, but urgent need would be to expedite setting up these notified NIMZs. Complementing these measures is the 12th Five Year Plan focus on

promoting manufacturing by developing capabilities across sectors, especially through technology, innovation and R&D in core sectors, and the setting up of the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI) to fast track clearance for large projects.

However, bringing convergence on important policies such as the Land Acquisition and Rehabilitation Bill, the MMDR Act, and the implementation of GST as well as the alignment of national and state manufacturing priorities will be essential for manufacturing to achieve its true potential.

CII has submitted a list of large scale manufacturing projects to the Government for consideration by the CCI with a recommendation that projects below Rs 1000 crore be reviewed as well to spur the investment cycle in the country.

CII is also working with the Government in easing business regulations in the country and is constituting a ‘Task Force on Ease of Doing Business’ that would make recommendations to simplify doing business in India. CII will work closely with the Government and various stakeholders to make manufacturing in India more attractive.

Undoubtedly, a strong manufacturing sector and its healthy growth is crucial for ensuring high GDP growth, creating additional employment opportunities, reducing inequalities and increasing investments and global competitiveness. CII hopes continuous time-bound efforts and ongoing reforms will help put manufacturing back on a high growth trajectory.