Get set to weave history
India stands on the threshold of a historic opportunity to accelerate the growth of manufacturing. Textiles and clothing account for nearly 40% of India's manufacturing output. And the time for giving this highly labour-intensive sector a major push has never been better. Will Dr. Singh's government seize the opportunity? Reform labour laws to end fragmentation in the textile industry and grab the historic but short-lived opportunity, which will come up this weekend as the quotas go. Behind the fog of the populist expenditure packages floated daily, the ray of hope for the proponents of reforms remains the prime minister himself. True, progress on reforms has been slow but the blame for that goes to the anti-reform wing of the Congress that is reasserting after being underground for 15 years. Thus, it is Dr Singh, who called for an end to the small-scale industry (SSI) reservation in a speech to the Small Industries Development Organisation some months ago. He is also the one to have called for an end to the export subsidies that risk being countervailed abroad. And he also…
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