Modi Urges GE to Make Ships in India
Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi invited US-based General Electric (GE) to manufacture ships in India claiming that the country offers immense opportunities for the ship-building sector.
Pitching his government's 'Make in India' campaign, he pointed out that India is in a position to export marine defense equipment to other third world countries at cheaper-than-expected rates.
GE currently manufactures equipment like engines, which are used in ships, but does not manufacture ships in India.
Modi was inaugurating GE’s first-of-its-type multi-modal manufacturing facility at Chakan, Pune. The new $200 million, 250,000 square feet GE plant will manufacture products to service four different industries – wind power generation, aviation, oil and gas and rail transportation. It will employ 1,500 people.
GE’s Vice Chairman John Rice said the plant has come up at a time when the spotlight is on manufacturing and the Indian government’s “Make in India” campaign. The government last year raised the limit for foreign investment in the defense sector from 26 percent to 49 percent.
Modi said, "Ship building industry can create employment in the coastal states. India has immense potential in defense sector to export to the third world countries."
