Industry players opine that the government should facilitate infrastructure upgradation among manufacturing firms to help them overcome capacity constraints While the country’s manufacturing sector remains a significant contributor to the country’s GDP, it will be too much to expect abnormally high growth in the sector for a long period of time, thanks to capacity constraints plaguing the sector, opines the Indian government. Rising costs of fuel, coupled with inflation and rise in key policy rates are also likely to hinder the sector’s progress.
Lack of infrastructure hampering manufacturing growth
 In this context, Raju Apte director (marketing) of Paras Organics Pvt Ltd, a registered SSI unit in Navi Mumbai engaged in manufacturing of chemical products, opines, “One of the major factors behind capacity constraint is lack of adequate infrastructure in the country. Most manufacturing firms operating in the country lack the basic necessities such as electricity, water etc, which severely disrupts their productivity and prevents them from running full capacity. The government agencies must facilitate infrastructure upgradation to ensure growth of the manufacturing sector.” Mr Apte also added that the work culture among manufacturing firms also needs to be changed to overcome capacity constraints. A recent research report titled 2010 Global Manufacturing Competitiveness Index, from Deloitte’s Global Manufacturing Industry group and the US Council on Competitiveness, ranked India second in the global manufacturing competitiveness index. In this context, Ganesh Kumar, managing partner of Asia Power cables, a mid-sized manufacturer of cable wires in Chennai, says, “Post-recession, manufacturing activities have gained tremendous momentum. At this time, capacity constraints should not mar the progress of the industry. Manufacturing firms are trying their level best to expand existing capacity and we hope that in the coming days, the sector will be able to overcome capacity constraints.” It is to be noted that several auto firms such as Maruti Suzuki, Mahindra and Mahindra (M&M), among others are planning massive investments in the next couple of years to expand their existing capacity.
Arup Choudhury |
