The success was achieved mainly because the project had the full support of the government. The carrier is designed by the Indian Navy’s in-house Warship Design Bureau (WDB) and built by Cochin Shipyard Limited, a public sector shipyard under the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Vikrant has been built with state-of-the-art automation features and is the largest ship ever built in the maritime history of India.
Calling it as launch of the first indigenous aircraft carrier in India by Prime Minister Modi, has not gone down well with the Congress leaders. Congress general secretary and party spokesman Jairam Ramesh tweeted that Modi should have said that it was then defence minister AK Antony who had launched India’s first indigenous aircraft carrier INS Vikrant on August 12, 2013 and he was only re-commissioning it on Friday.
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The indigenous aircraft carrier is named after her illustrious predecessor, India’s first aircraft carrier, which had played a vital role in the 1971 Bangladesh liberation war. It has a large amount of indigenous equipment and machinery, involving major industrial houses in the country as well as over 100 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). With the commissioning of Vikrant, India will have two operational aircraft carriers, which will bolster the maritime security.
The development and production of indigenous warship-grade steel for the ship through a partnership between the Navy, Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) and Steel Authority of India (SAIL), which has enabled the country to become self-sufficient with respect to warship steel. Currently all the warships which are being built in the country are being manufactured using indigenous steel. It is only possible because there is a government backing and support, which is lacking in the areas where the small private entrepreneurs are engaged in setting up their business.
In fact, the concept of ‘Make in India’ is only possible if there is a support from the government. However, unfortunately the private MSMEs which are facing the price rise in raw materials and the GST tax issues will find it very difficult to perform to their optimum level. Not too long ago India had seen the MSME sector on the street calling the Union government to support them. Also, despite the extension of tax holidays to start-ups by one more year till March 2023 as announced by the Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, in this year’s budget speech, nearly 99 per cent of the start-ups may not be eligible to avail the benefits.
The same holds true for employee stock option plan tax benefits which will be availed by only a small percentage of start-ups which have received the certification from inter ministerial board (IMB) under the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade. In India, out of about 61,500 government registered start-ups barely 400 have IMB certifications and are eligible for tax concessions. The start-up community has been shouting out loud and demanding from the government to bring in tax reforms, especially doing away with the IMB certification in order to become eligible for the tax concessions. In fact, what the MSMEs and the start ups require is little handholding from the government which will help them grow in business.
The cry of the private sector specially the MSMEs must be addressed by the Union government and in particular Finance Ministry. Unless the government sees their woes, it will become very difficult for the MSMEs to survive. In fact, the MSMEs are a major job creator and if it fails then the dream of ‘Make in India’ will remain hanging with fear of job losses too.
