Mint Quick Edit | Industrial smart hubs will need reform support

These will operate on a ‘plug-and-play’ model, implying that they will have all infrastructure in place so that businesses can start operations quickly. The broader idea is to promote the creation of activity hubs and boost domestic manufacturing. 

Conceptually, it seems workable. But we have seen similar announcements in the past, such as for smart cities or even special economic zones, which held out the promise of creating local clusters of buzzy factories, especially aimed at boosting exports. 

But their operationalization has been less than impressive. This underlines the need for simultaneous efforts to focus on making the policy environment more welcoming. On this, some progress has been made. 

Doing business in India is easier than it was. But red tape still persists in many fields and we are still short of what’s needed for the manufacturing sector to expand its share of economic output. Various other reforms need to be fast-tracked. The proposed cities mustn’t risk ending up as white elephants.