Launched on 25th September 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' campaign is an ambitious initiative that aims to cut through red tape, encourage foreign investments and transform India into a manufacturing powerhouse, correcting the biggest weaknesses of the Indian economy. The campaign that called upon foreign companies to invest in India with the assurance of easy and accessible governance is the first step by the Government to put India prominently on the global manufacturing map and, in turn, facilitate the inflow of new technology and capital, while creating millions of jobs.

I urge those of you who've been considering leaving India to stay back, flourish here first, then decide."
-  PM Narendra Modi

With India's manufacturing sector contributing to a paltry 15% of the total GDP, this proposal could not have been more well-timed. India fell to 134 of 189 economies in the World Bank’s Ease of Doing Business index, from 131 last year. It’s ranked 76th of 143 nations in the Global Innovation Index 2014, published by Cornell University, and 71 of 144 in the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report, behind Brazil and Vietnam. It is with this context in mind that the Government is attempting to undergo a paradigm shift for businesses to create a growth oriented environment and reducing the existing hurdles. The government has identified 25 sectors in which India has the potential of becoming a world leader. Separate brochures for these sectors have been released that include automobiles, chemicals, information technology, pharmaceuticals, textiles, ports, aviation, leather, tourism and hospitality, wellness and railways. These brochures provide details of growth drivers, investment opportunities, sector-specific foreign direct investment (FDI) and other policies and related agencies

The front end of this initiative is an impressive website, MakeinIndia.com  that may well be one of the most efficient and well-designed portals to have come out of a government program. Designed by Weiden and Kennedy, a full service integrated advertising agency that had also worked on the ‘Incredible India’ campaign, the portal is meant to act as a one-stop resource for information on doing business in India. Widgets on the website’s homepage can be easily accessed for information about Sectors, Live Projects, Policies and FAQ’s. The Sectors section encompasses almost everything from Automobiles, Space, Aviation, Chemicals, Renewable Energy to Wellness and Tourism. The Live Projects section includes a summary on the Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor (DMIC) and its potential impact on India while the Policies section covers policy changes on the new initiatives, foreign direct investment, intellectual property rights and national manufacturing. Potential investors can post questions on the portal and with the assurance that they will be answered by a panel of experts within 72 hours.

A welcome and much-needed campaign, ‘Make in India’ has become a crucial component of mainstream discourse for its economic potential and the policy push it represents. What caught our attention was how this campaign is being branded and marketed - a definite departure from "sarkaari" schemes. As only the days to come will determine the success of this pitch to Indian and foreign businesses, we decided to bring together branding experts to deconstruct the campaign.