Harvard Business School Dean Nitin Nohria said on Monday the Make In India campaign would work better if focused on advanced manufacturing sectors such as defence, rather than low-cost products.
“It is a good campaign. (But) I don’t think there is that much opportunity in sustaining a competitive advantage in the low end of the manufacturing value chain,” Nohria said. “There are too many competitors around the world and there is no limit to the number of people who will enter the lower end of the value chain in manufacturing.”
Speaking to journalists at a media roundtable in Mumbai, he said that opening up of manufacturing in sectors such as defence is commendable.
The head of the Ivy League institution seemed more optimistic on e-commerce, citing the battle between an established behemoth Amazon with home-grown talent Flipkart, calling it a “really exciting development to watch for.”
Nohria, however, expressed concern over the growth of these companies as they rely completely on the reach and reliability of data infrastructure of the country.
He added that the database infrastructure needs a lot of work if Indian entrepreneurs truly want to capitalise on the new economy opportunities.
He talked about the college’s entrepreneurship venture called the Harvard Innovation Lab or i-lab, which has been functioning since the past three years.
“Companies that were formed in the i-lab have tens of millions of venture capital now invested in them. Some amazing companies will come out of the place.”
