India, Aug. 16 -- Like every such address from the ramparts of the Red Fort over the past eight decades, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's speech to mark the 80th Independence Day combined a short-term actionable road map with the long-term path that the country should embark on.

The PM unveiled the seven streams or saptadhara that he believed will power India's journey to the centenary of its Independence in 1947. He correctly identified manufacturing as the first pillar. This newspaper has repeatedly noted in the past that much of India's problems with unemployment and youth discontent is tied to its failure to encourage large-scale manufacturing. But this is easier said than done, especially when a large part of the manufacturing landsca...