The Index of Industrial Production (IIP) for India has recently shot up from 108.6 (2005-06) to 165.5 (2011-12). The country’s foundation in industries is held by a few strong profit-making public sector enterprises (PSEs). In addition to the PSEs, the private sector industries have also come up in an enthusiastic number after the decentralization and privatization in the 1990’s. A key feature of India’s present industrial environment is the upcoming of so many new private-sector Information Technology or software industries. The IT sector is attracting huge financial investment from various entrepreneurs, both national and foreign, with revolutionary ideas. A few examples are IBM, Microsoft, Infosys, Accenture, HP, Google and the like. Also, the abundance of services is a feature that’s largely responsible for the current economic growth of the nation. A considerable proportion of the national income comes from this tertiary group of industries.

The development of the banking and financial institutions is also a very positive aspect towards India’s industrialization. It has given an impetus to the domestic investment in businesses, both small and large. Innovative young entrepreneurs are coming up with new industries and ideas like in the food industry, fashion industry, publishing houses, interior designing, entertainment, software, infrastructure building, banking & finance, outsourcing and the like. There has been huge foreign investment in non-consumable commodities like telecommunications, automobiles, electronic goods, various machines used in production, IT sector etc. The education industry has also seen a positive growth in the last decade. A number of private institutions have come up in the fields of higher education, specialization, training and research and development. Along with these, the government educational institutions also continue to dominate the education industry. A number of IITs (Indian Institute of Technology) and IIMs (Indian Institute of Management) have come up, giving high quality first hand training and experience in the fields of engineering and business management.

But, along with all the above prospects, the Indian industrial scenario also suffers from various loopholes. Let’s come to some of those problems. The primary sector of industries is still very backward technologically. In an agriculture-core economy like India, the use of advanced technology and machines in the production process is very limited. This leads to low productivity and efficiency. The primary sector also suffers from low foreign and domestic investment, which is why people engaged in these sectors live in utter poverty and poor standard of living. Also, there has been a very unbalanced industrial development in the country. In other words, while some regions of the country are heavily industrialized, there are others which dwell in remote corners. So, issues of unemployment and economic inequality exist in the Indian economy.

Recently, there is an increasing problem faced by industries in acquiring lands for setting up industries. The political and economist thinkers are divided on the issue regarding land grabs. The peasants and the rural poor, being unsure of their future well-being, are often reluctant to give away their lands for industrialization. There are also the problems of corruption and lethargy in the corporate work culture that pervades the Indian industries. There is also a lack of investment on research and development in all sectors of industries.

Thus, if industrialization is to be the backbone of the economy, India still has to go a long way to achieve excellence. With the present rise of industries in India, we can say that a more holistic approach is needed to be taken towards an overall industrial development. Foreign and domestic entrepreneurs, big and small, have to be encouraged so that they invest on industrial development in all parts of the country and in all sectors of industries. Once India is successful in doing so, we will be truly able to see “India – the new superpower” within a few decades.