PM Modi’s ‘Make in India’ had impressive effect on Indian economy, says Putin

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday hailed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and said that his ‘Make in India’ initiative has had a truly impressive effect on the Indian economy.

Putin was speaking at a forum in Moscow organised by Russia’s Agency for Strategic Initiatives (ASI), the Russian television network RT reported.

Vladimir Putin also cited India as an example of a country encouraging companies to develop, manufacture, and assemble products locally, the report said.

“Our friends in India and our big friend, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, launched the ‘Make in India’ initiative several years ago. It has had a truly impressive effect on the Indian economy. It would do no harm to emulate what is working well, even if it was not us but our friends who created it,” the Russian president said.

Giving India’s example to encourage domestic products and brands in Russia, Vladimir Putin said there is a need for Moscow to “offer support tools to help our companies market their products more efficiently.”

He lauded India’s initiative to create an effective model to develop local manufacturing capabilities and woo foreign investors.

Putin emphasized the need to think about “making our products more convenient and functional, with a modern look and properties.” Industrial and product design should become an important resource for the development of domestic business, he was quoted as saying by RT.

The ‘Make in India’ initiative was launched globally in September 2014 as a part of India’s renewed focus on manufacturing. The objective of the initiative is to promote India as the most preferred global manufacturing destination.

According to the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA), the ‘Make in India’ initiative aims to make India an integral part of the global supply chain. It is about making Indian companies excel in a globalized workspace.

In order to achieve this, the government of India has taken up a series of measures to radically improve the ease of doing business.