Andhra Pradesh chief minister Y. S. Rajasekhar Reddy and Ficci president Onkar S. Kanwar in Hyderabad on Monday. (PTI)

Hyderabad, May 2: Corporate India today called for a new thrust to boost the manufacturing sector whose contribution to the country?s gross domestic product has dwindled to 17 per cent over the years.

Ficci president Onkar S. Kanwar has said the industrial policy was not conducive to the manufacturing sector when compared with other South Asian countries.

Talking to reporters on the sidelines of Ficci?s national executive meeting here, Kanwar said Indian products are more expensive compared with the imported ones due to high taxation, power tariff and interest rates.

There was a need to introduce pro-active policy measures and timely action to provide enough strength to the manufacturing competitiveness of industries in view of the WTO regime, he added.

?The balance is heavily in favour of the services sector, which contributed 52 per cent to the GDP, though its employment potential is far below the manufacturing sector,? Kanwar said.

The national manufacturing competitive council set up by the Centre to go into the entire gamut of the manufacturing industry from infrastructure to marketing of the product was expected to bring relief to the manufacturing sector. Kanwar said though falling international prices, increasing cost of raw materials and duty were responsible for the poor performance of various sectors, the measures announced in the Union budget and the Exim policy would improve the situation.

Growth report

The current spurt in the growth of the manufacturing sector has been led by exports, reports a Ficci survey.

The study on manufacturing competitiveness points out that the growth of exports exceeded the growth in domestic production for items like automobiles, auto components, castings and forgings, textile machinery, industrial valves, cement, leather and leather products.