Make in India campaign marks 2 years on Sunday

New Delhi: As the Make in India campaign launched by Prime Minister Narendra Modi completes two years, the government on Sunday announced that foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows into the country had recorded their highest level on the basis of a yearly comparision. "India records its highest ever year-on-year FDI inflows. There has never been a better time to #MakeInIndia," the Department of Industrial Policy and Promotion (DIPP) said in a post on the programme's Twitter handle. "With 2 years of #MakeInIndia comes 2 years of doing business made easier," it said in a separate tweet. "The Lion turns two today," it added in another tweet, referring to the campaign's lion symbol. India saw a record 53 per cent increase in FDI in the last two years owing to steps taken to foster growth, investment climate, price stability and fiscal prudence, the Lok Sabha was told during the recently-concluded monsoon session. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said that "comprehensive reforms" had resulted in the highest ever FDI inflow in 2015-16," with the increase over two years being 53 per cent. Commerce Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had said in Chennai earlier this month that initiatives like Make in India had started yielding results with manufacturing growth in 2015-16 being at 9.3 per cent, as against 5.5 per cent in 2014-15, 5.6 per cent in 2013-14 and 6 per cent in 2012-13. She also declared that the continuous decline in Indian exports since last year had finally been arrested, and said growth now will be slow and steady. Meanwhile, India's trade deficit in August this year at $7.67 billion witnessed a 38 per cent fall compared to the same month last year at $12.40 billion, while Reserve Bank of India (RBI) data earlier this month showed the current account deficit sharply declined to $0.3 billion in 2016-17's first quarter from $6.1 billion in the same quarter of 2015-16. Net foreign direct investment (FDI) declined to $4.1 billion from $10 billion last year and $8.8 billion sequentially. Official data earlier showed that India's Q1 GDP slowed to 7.1 per cent for the first quarter of this fiscal, from 7.5 per cent in the like period of 2015-16, due mainly to lower activity in farm, mining and construction sectors, even as industry said the numbers reflected a moderation of growth impulses. Industry chamber Assocham said earlier this year on the basis of a survey that the Indian economy is expected to improve in short-term but private sector investments would be a matter for concern due to sluggish capacity utilisation and pressure on corporate earnings.