Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi during a speech in the Lok Sabha on Monday, expressed his views on India's economic performance, specifically focusing on the Make in India initiative, which he claimed has failed.
Gandhi was addressing the Motion of Thanks (MoT) on the President’s address when he criticized the lack of new ideas in the President's speech, noting that it had sounded repetitive and similar to previous years.
"I heard the President's address. I sat there with Kharge Ji, and I listened to it. I must say, I struggled through the President's address to maintain my attention on what was being said because I had heard pretty much the same Presidential address last time, the time before that, and the time before that," Gandhi remarked.
He continued, adding, "It was the same list of things the government has done. 'We've done this, we've done that'... 50 or 100 things the government has done."
He reflected on the need for a new direction and pondered, "What type of Presidential address should be delivered, and how would that address be different from what we heard?"
Gandhi emphasized the importance of focusing on the country's production and laid out what an alternative address might look like, especially from the perspective of the INDIA bloc.
He stated that youth unemployment continues to be a significant issue, which both the UPA and NDA governments have failed to address adequately.
"Neither the UPA government nor the NDA government has given a clear-cut answer to youth unemployment. I don't think anybody will disagree with that," he said.
Pointing out the decline in the manufacturing sector, Gandhi highlighted that the share of manufacturing in India's GDP had decreased from 15.3 percent in 2014 to 12.6 percent in 2025.
“The PM proposed the Make in India program. I think it was a good idea; we saw the statue, we saw the logo, we saw the investment, and the result is right in front of you. Manufacturing fell from 15.3 percent of GDP in 2014 to 12.6 percent of GDP today. That is the lowest share of manufacturing in history," Gandhi explained.
Although acknowledging that the idea behind Make in India was sound, he stated, "I would not blame this on the Prime Minister; it is unfair to say that he did not try. I think the Prime Minister tried, and I think conceptually, Make in India was a good idea, but it is pretty clear that it failed."
He went on to discuss the broader problem of production in India, asserting that the country has failed in organizing production.
"Pretty much every government since 1990 has done a decent job in consumption. But as a country, we have failed in organizing production," he said.
Gandhi further criticized the reliance on imports from China, emphasizing that many products labeled as "Made in India" are merely assembled in the country, while the actual components come from China.
Holding up his phone in the Lok Sabha, he remarked, "All the components of this phone are made in China. The network that is produced is made in China."
Gandhi urged a stronger focus on domestic production, stating, "So the first message I would give in a Presidential address is to focus completely on production." He warned that without focusing on production, India would face a significant deficit, rising inequality, and various economic challenges.
He also highlighted the ongoing revolution in electric vehicles and energy production, noting, "We are moving from petrol to batteries. We are moving to wind, solar, and potentially nuclear energy."
Reflecting on past achievements, Gandhi recalled how the Congress government successfully harnessed the computer revolution, stating, "The government of India had a clear focus; we looked at that revolution. It was a Congress government, and we decided we were going to focus on the development of software, and we rode that wave of that revolution."
Gandhi concluded by referencing the Russia-Ukraine war, framing it as part of a broader technological shift.
"The actual war is between an internal combustion machine and the motor. The electric motor is inside the drone, and the machine is in the tank," he said, noting how drones are now replacing traditional tanks in warfare.
