The Difficulties of Retooling the Indian Economy

Even though India's economy, which grew at a 7.6 percent rate in 2015, is the fastest-growing in the world, job creation in the country has fallen to its lowest point since 2009. Speeding the pace of the Indian economy's shift from agriculture toward manufacturing has been one of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's chief objectives since he took office in 2014. In launching his "Make in India" campaign in 2014, Modi outlined a plan to increase the manufacturing sector's share of India's gross domestic product to 25 percent by 2022 and to add 100 million more manufacturing jobs (currently, manufacturing constitutes 16 percent of GDP and employs some 50 million people). Modi's goal for manufacturing growth is nothing new; the previous administration, led by the center-left Indian National Congress (INC), mapped its own blueprint for bolstering manufacturing in 2011. But entrenched opposition to labor and land acquisition reforms are throwing off...