Rahul Gandhi hails Karnataka’s factory boom, Vaishnaw says ‘Make in India’ did it

A political exchange unfolded after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi highlighted the rapid creation of 30,000 jobs at a manufacturing unit in Karnataka within just eight to nine months, describing it as the fastest factory ramp-up seen in India so far and crediting the Congress-led state government for fostering such growth.

In a social media post, Gandhi said the scale and speed of employment generation were transformative, particularly noting that around 80 per cent of the workforce comprises women, mostly aged between 19 and 24. 

He emphasised that for many of them, it is their first job. 

Gandhi said Karnataka was setting an example by building an ecosystem where manufacturing can expand swiftly while providing dignified employment opportunities, calling it the kind of India that must be built.

Responding to the remarks, Union Minister for Railways, Information and Broadcasting, and Electronics and Information Technology Ashwini Vaishnaw thanked Gandhi for acknowledging what he described as the success of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s ‘Make in India’ programme. 

Vaishnaw said the development reflected the Prime Minister’s vision of transforming India into a producer economy and asserted that such outcomes were the result of policies implemented at the national level.

The exchange highlighted the ongoing political contest over credit for job creation and industrial growth, with the Congress pointing to state-level governance in Karnataka and the BJP-led Centre attributing the success to broader national initiatives under the Modi government’s manufacturing push.