Rahul Gandhi took potshots at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Centre over the 'Make in India', claiming the ambitious scheme has been a failure, saying assembling and not manufacturing iPhones in India only profits China.
He linked the record low manufacturing to rising unemployment rates and that the country needs a fundamental shift that "empowers lakhs of producers through honest reforms and financial support".
The Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha made the remarks in a post on X, wherein he posted a video of his interaction with two mobile technicians named Shivam and Saif at Delhi's popular IT hub - the Nehru Place market.
'We assemble, don't build'
The Congress MP said importing parts and assembling them in India only profits China, claiming such imports are more than double.
"Make in India promised a factory boom. So why is manufacturing at record lows, youth unemployment at record highs, and why have imports from China more than doubled? The truth is stark: we assemble, we import, but we don’t build. China profits," he said in the post.
Modi ji has surrendered: Rahul
"Modi ji has mastered the art of slogans, not solutions. Since 2014, manufacturing has fallen to 14% of our economy....With no new ideas, Modi ji has surrendered. Even the much-hyped PLI scheme is now being quietly rolled back," he said in a jab at the Centre.
"India needs a fundamental shift - one that empowers lakhs of producers through honest reforms and financial support", he added.
India needs to get into manufacturing
Gandhi further stressed the importance of genuine domestic manufacturing, stating that employment in India will come from products that are "made in India" rather than simply "assembled in India". "You can assemble as many iPhones as you want, but all you're doing is enriching India’s major oligopolies," he said.
Apple, which began assembling iPhones in India in 2017, currently operates three assembly plants in the country - two in Tamil Nadu and one in Karnataka.
Clarifying his stance, Gandhi pointed out that people often confuse 'made in India' with 'assembled in India', though the two are fundamentally different. He warned that without a focus on true manufacturing, India risks falling behind, citing China's dominant control over the mobile and laptop manufacturing sectors as an example.
He further emphasised the need for honest reforms and substantial financial support to empower the country's lakhs of small and medium producers, calling this a critical step toward sustainable economic development.