NITI Aayog has released a comprehensive report titled "Key Sectors to Position India as a Global Manufacturing Hub" that identifies four high-potential manufacturing sectors to fuel India's ambition to become a global manufacturing powerhouse. The report, developed through a structured four-phase methodology, extensively analyzes chemicals, telecom & networking equipment, textiles, and solar photovoltaic manufacturing sectors.
Assessment Framework
The study employed a four-phase approach: shortlisting sectors based on relative attractiveness and market growth prospects; comprehensive assessment of market potential, competitiveness, and strategic relevance; benchmarking international best practices from top-performing countries; and developing sector-specific actionable recommendations with a clear implementation roadmap.
Chemical Sector Analysis
The domestic chemicals industry is led by three key consumption segments: petrochemicals and organic chemicals (largest segment including polymers, synthetic fibres, and performance plastics), specialty chemicals, and inorganic chemicals. The sector has significant potential to enhance domestic value addition by expanding downstream production and improving feedstock utilization, with recommendations focusing on reducing import dependence through domestic manufacturing promotion, competitiveness investments, and strategic use of Free Trade Agreements.
Textiles Sector Performance
India's textile and apparel industry represents a critical manufacturing sector, contributing approximately 2% to national GDP, 11% to manufacturing GVA, and 9% of merchandise exports. The sector is the second-largest employer after agriculture, providing livelihoods to over 45 million people and supporting widespread MSME-led industrial development. In fiscal 2025, India exported textile products worth $37.7 billion, accounting for 4.1% of global textile and apparel exports and ranking as the sixth-largest textile exporter globally. The report identifies potential for strengthening global competitiveness through improved raw material availability, manufacturing scale-up via infrastructure support, and expanded market access through deeper trade integration.
Telecom & Networking Equipment Outlook
India currently stands as the world's second-largest telecommunications market with over 1.2 billion subscribers, approximately 85% telecom penetration, and nearly 75% internet usage. The National Telecom Policy 2025 targets doubling the sector's contribution to GDP, doubling exports of telecom products and services, creating one million new jobs, and significantly increasing investment and R&D expenditure by 2030. Key priorities include enhancing global competitiveness through deepened localization, strengthened domestic component manufacturing, promotion of joint ventures and technology transfer, development of integrated industrial clusters, and expansion of high-potential export segments.
Solar PV Manufacturing Capacity
India had installed 106 GW of solar capacity by March 2025 and needs to add approximately 174 GW to meet the 2030 target of 280 GW solar capacity. The domestic PV market is estimated at ₹32,400 crore ($3.7 billion) and is expected to grow at a 17-20% CAGR between fiscal 2023 and fiscal 2030, driven by utility-scale solar, rooftop solar, open-access projects, and green hydrogen-linked demand. The solar manufacturing ecosystem shows strong potential for deepening domestic value addition by strengthening upstream capabilities and reducing import dependence, with recommendations focusing on technology partnerships, joint ventures, enhanced R&D support, development of integrated clean-tech clusters, and industry-led skilling initiatives.
The report serves as a strategic instrument to guide selected sectors in strengthening India's manufacturing ecosystem through customized interventions addressing existing challenges. It emphasizes the need for coordinated industry-government collaboration to achieve higher manufacturing growth trajectory and positions this initiative as advancing the vision of Viksit Bharat. This is the first edition focusing on four sectors, with subsequent reports planned covering eight additional manufacturing sectors.