For an industry globally classified as hazardous, protections such as health insurance and a provident fund for workers are necessities. In Sivakasi, they remain elusive.
The industry forecasts exports are set to grow 16% in 2025-26, boosted by surplus domestic production and a drive to push into 26 underserved global markets with strong potential.
Indigenisation level will progressively increase up to 60 percent with key sub-assemblies, electronics and mechanical parts being manufactured locally.
It is a brilliant, reasonably priced, and mostly homemade aircraft with a stellar safety record; only two crashes in 24 years since its first flight. But its crash is a moment of introspection.
I was eight years old in Calcutta when a family friend who supplied to government departments all over the country told my father that Kashmir was the most venal state he had to deal with. A similar situation obtains in the north east. Perhaps, where the Indian state feels it is less than entirely welcome, it allows local elites to milk the system, creating a class that has a stake in preserving the status quo.
I was eight years old in Calcutta when a family friend who supplied to government departments all over the country told my father that Kashmir was the most venal state he had to deal with. A similar situation obtains in the north east. Perhaps, where the Indian state feels it is less than entirely welcome, it allows local elites to milk the system, creating a class that has a stake in preserving the status quo.