India urges US-based entrepreneurs to lead domestic manufacturing expansion

HD Kumaraswamy, India’s Union Minister for Heavy Industries and Steel, urged Indian professionals and entrepreneurs in the United States to return to India and establish enterprises on Sunday, 6 September. Addressing the Business Forum - 2026 in Philadelphia, Kumaraswamy called for the diaspora to transition from job seekers to "job creators" by leveraging more than Rs68,000 crore ($8.1 billion) in available government incentives. Industrial Incentive Schemes The Minister detailed several high-value programmes aimed at expanding India’s industrial base. These include the Rs10,900-crore PM E-DRIVE scheme for electric mobility and a Rs25,938-crore Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the automotive sector. Kumaraswamy stated that these initiatives are designed to strengthen domestic manufacturing and reduce dependence on imported components. Further capital is being deployed into high-technology sectors, including Rs18,100 crore for the Advanced Chemistry Cell (ACC) Battery Programme. This project seeks to establish 50 GWh of domestic battery manufacturing capacity. Additionally, a Rs7,280-crore programme is currently focused on the exploration and processing of critical minerals required for advanced manufacturing, the Minister confirmed during the AKKA Silver Jubilee Conference. Steel Sector Growth and Targets In the steel sector, India has set an ambitious domestic production target of 300 million tonnes by 2030. Kumaraswamy noted that India is already the world’s…