INDIA'S MANUFACTURING SET FOR LEAP AMID INFRA, POLICY TAILWINDS

With 95% of manufacturers reporting improved logistics, India's long-promised industrial push may finally be gaining traction where it counts — on the ground.

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There's a quiet but growing hum across India's industrial corridors — from Aurangabad to Sanand, and from Hosur to Bhubaneswar. It's the sound of machines whirring back to life, of new warehouses rising along freight corridors, and of production lines no longer waiting weeks for raw materials. For a country that's long hoped for a manufacturing miracle, the momentum feels real this time. But so do the challenges.

A recent study by Cushman & Wakefield shines a light on this complex but encouraging picture of India's manufacturing landscape. It suggests that while many of the old bottlenecks — poor logistics, land acquisition delays, and fractured policy execution — haven't vanished overnight, meaningful shifts are underway. Perhaps for the first time in years, India's dream of becoming a global factory doesn't sound like an empty slogan.

The numbers tell a compelling story. In FY2024-25, India's exports reached an all-time high of $437 billion, a figure that reflects the country's strengthening foothold in global trade. The share of engineering goods, electronics, and pharmaceuticals has grown steadily — bolstered not just by shifting global supply chains but also by strong domestic policy frameworks like the Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme. Over 9.5 lakh jobs have been created under the PLI banner, and investments worth Rs. 1.46 lakh crore have flowed in. Those are the kind of figures that can change a sector's destiny.