Discuss the role of integrated industrial ecosystems in achieving a 25% manufacturing share of GDP by 2035.

Manufacturing contributes only about 16–17% of India's GDP. The National Manufacturing Mission aims to raise this to 25% by 2035 [1]. Integrated industrial ecosystems are parks that bring land, utilities, logistics, approvals and social infrastructure together in one place. They tackle the cost and delay barriers that fiscal incentives alone could not remove. BHAVYA, the ₹33,660-crore plan for 100 plug-and-play parks, is the clearest example [2].

Role in raising manufacturing's share

• Lower entry barriers: ready roads, power, water, factory sheds and single-window approvals shorten the time from investment to production [1].
• Logistics competitiveness: up to 25% of approved funding can go to road, rail and last-mile links outside the park [1].
• MSME inclusion: shared testing, certification and warehousing give small firms economies of scale [1].
• Labour and jobs: worker housing, healthcare and skilling centres support workforce mobility in a sector that employs over 27 million people [1][5].
• Green compliance: common effluent treatment plants (CETPs) replace scattered, unregulated units [1].
• Cooperative federalism: States provide land and co-own park SPVs under the Companies Act, 2013 [3][5]. Challenge-mode selection rewards States that are ready [1].
• Proof of concept: the four NICDP greenfield cities, such as Dholera, have allotted plots to 434 companies across 4,641 acres [4].

Limitations

• Infrastructure does not create demand: CAG found that more than half of allotted SEZ land lay idle [6].
• Thin funding: the outlay averages about ₹337 crore per park [2], far below what corridor cities received.
• Land dependence: central equity is linked to the value of land the States transfer [3]. Parks in States without clear land titles may stall.
• Complementarity: parks need demand-side support such as PLI schemes, market access and skilled labour to fill up.

Integrated ecosystems turn the manufacturing target into ready, investable sites, but they will only work if the parks actually fill with firms. DPIIT should release later funding instalments as plots are occupied, add "use-it-or-lose-it" clauses to plot leases, and publish each park's occupancy on the BHAVYA Portal [5]. Done this way, plug-and-play parks can drive the move to a 25% share and advance SDG 9 (industry, innovation and infrastructure).