‘Assemble As Many iPhones… But We Don’t Build’: Rahul Gandhi’s Takedown of ‘Make In India’

Congress MP and Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the government’s flagship ‘Make in India’ initiative, arguing that India has become a nation of assemblers rather than builders, a situation that he claims has primarily profited China.

In a video posted on his social media handles showing an interaction with electronics technicians in Delhi’s popular Nehru Place market, Gandhi asserted that the promise of a manufacturing boom has fallen flat. He alleged that while products like mobile phones are being assembled in India, their components are largely imported, leading to a decline in domestic manufacturing’s share of the economy and a surge in youth unemployment.

“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?” Gandhi questioned in his post. “The truth is stark: we assemble, we import, but we don’t build. China profits.”

During his conversation with two technicians, Shivam and Saif, the Raebareli MP highlighted the crucial difference between manufacturing and assembly. “People think made in India and assembled in India are the same. But they are different. Until India gets itself into manufacturing, it will be left behind. China has complete control over the mobile and laptop manufacturing industry,” he said.

Gandhi claimed that since Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government came to power in 2014, the manufacturing sector’s contribution to the economy has fallen to just 14%. “PM Modi has mastered the art of slogans, not solutions… With no new ideas, Modi has surrendered,” he alleged.

He argued that simply assembling products does not create the high-value jobs that genuine manufacturing does. “Assemble as many iPhones as you want, all you are doing is giving money to the big oligopolies of India,” he said, referring to the major corporations that run assembly plants in the country for global brands like Apple.

The Congress leader called for a “fundamental shift” in policy, advocating for “honest reforms and financial support” to empower lakhs of small and medium producers in the country. “We must stop being a market for others. If we don’t build here, we’ll keep buying from those who do. The clock is ticking,” he warned.

The ‘Make in India’ initiative was launched by Prime Minister Modi in 2014 with the aim of transforming India into a global manufacturing hub. While the country has seen significant growth in the assembly of electronics, particularly mobile phones, Rahul Gandhi’s critique focuses on the lack of deeper component manufacturing and its impact on the broader economy and job market