Pathway to self-reliance - From local to glocal: Atmanirbhar Bharat

Chennai

Faced with one of the most disruptive health challenges in recent history resulting in significant changes in lifestyles and livelihood options, each country is crafting its own strategy to cope with the pandemic. The subtle balance between protecting lives and restarting economic activities is hard to strike. India is navigating this complex odyssey with great agility, flexibility, sensitivity and tenacity. The challenge has engendered a spirit of solidarity and unity. It has yet again shown how resilient we can collectively be.

As India looks at opening up after four phases of lockdown, it is aiming at not only unlocking the closed economic doors but finding new doors and windows of opportunity that can be opened. It is aiming to discover possibilities for spurring inclusive, equitable growth, to discover new value chains that would create wealth, to harness the untapped human potential and optimally utilise natural resources. It is embarking on a mission that would make the country self-reliant. Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, as it is called, is a mission to galvanise the forces of growth in various sectors of economy.

It’s a launchpad for fostering entrepreneurship, nurturing innovation and creation of an ecosystem for rural-urban symbiotic development. The decisions taken by the Government on June 1, 2020 will have a far reaching impact on the farm and non-farm sectors in rural areas as well as on the development and sustainability of MSMEs. It tends to turn the challenge into an opportunity. If the sound policy intent can be effectively translated into practice, it is bound to have a profound impact on our country’s economy, especially in the rural areas.

The pandemic has created a difficult situation. We had gotten used to an intensely interconnected, inter-dependent world. As we had to perforce, isolate ourselves to break the chain of viral transmission, the global supply chains which we had relied upon have been disrupted, prompting many countries like ours to rethink how we can mitigate the negative impact of economic downturn. Thanks to the national leadership ably supported by the state governments and the creative energies of our people, we continue to act in unison to weather the storm and calibrate our responses, fine-tuning them, as we move along, as per the states’ contexts.

Given the magnitude of the virus threat and the size of our population, the reality of acute shortage of basic requirements like the masks, ventilators and PPE came to the fore. The emergency forced us to scale up production of essentials needed to fight the virus. Medicines made in India like Hydroxychloroquine were in great demand from various nations. India supplied this drug to a number of countries.

It was in this context of an effective response to an unprecedented emergency that disrupted most channels of internal and international trade, that Prime Minister Narendra Modi gave a clarion call for the country to become self-reliant. It is not a call for protectionism or isolationism but for adopting a pragmatic development strategy that would enable the country to recognise, capitalise on its inherent strengths. It is a trigger for reforms in the policy matrix and charting out the way forward as we reboot and reset our economic trajectory in an uncertain, post-COVID-19 world. As the PM underscored, “self-reliance also prepares the country for a tough competition in the global supply chain.”

By increasing the efficiency of all our sectors and also ensuring quality, the new thrust on self-reliance is expected to enhance India’s role in the global supply chain. It is aimed at giving a boost to the economic potential of the country by strengthening infrastructure, using modern technologies, enriching human resource, and creating robust supply chains.

The appeal for self-reliance aims at a serious reflection on whether we are making the best use of our natural, human and technological resources. It seeks to galvanise our unused and hidden potential. It underlines the need to be on our own in respect of basic and core necessities based on our ability to meet them with our known available resources and technologies. India is blessed with a vast array of natural resources, a huge demographic advantage with over two thirds of our population under the age of 35 years, a large farming community that indefatigably ensures food security for all of us, dynamic captains of industry who are creating world class institutions and a set of young, aspirational and entrepreneurial path-breakers.

We need to make the connection between these strong strands to weave the fabric of a new India that not only meets its domestic demand for goods and services but builds global brands that the world will recognise as uniquely Indian. We have all the ingredients for success. We have pioneers who have built global brands in various sectors. For example, 20 years ago Reliance had commissioned the world’s largest grassroots refinery in a record 36 months. Bajaj Auto is ranked as the world’s fourth largest three and two wheeler manufacturer.

Azim Premji not only founded Wipro, one of India’s foremost technology companies but also was recognised as one of Asia’s most generous philanthropists. Companies like Hindustan Unilever, L&T, Bharati Airtel, Sun Pharmaceuticals, Maruti are among the world’s top 100 innovative companies listed in Forbes 2018 ranking. Similarly, in Forbes 2019 list of world’s best regarded companies Infosys, TCS, Tata Motors, Tata Steel and Mahindra and Mahindra figure in the top 125. There are other giants in the food processing and FMCG sectors as well. For instance, Priya Foods, the top pickle company, Haldirams, the largest snack company, Patanjali Ayurved, a homegrown consumer goods giant and ITC, the multi-business conglomerate, have carved out a niche for themselves within India. These cases exemplify the extraordinary talent and human potential that our country has. The new Atmanirbhar Bharat mission provides an opportunity to gradually reduce imports in every sector from crude oil to heavy machinery, from vegetable oils to pulses, from consumer durables to high-tech medical devices as well as items used by every individual in daily life.

If we can convert our demographic advantage into a demographic dividend by providing high quality technical and vocational training to our youth, if we can further simplify procedures for setting up and running businesses, if we can focus strategically on the critical bottlenecks that are constricting rapid growth and find solutions to overcome them, if we can foster research and innovation, the mission we are embarking on will be able to achieve its transformative potential.

Any Abhiyan or mission has to have people at the centre. People must internalise the concept of valuing local products and artefacts and promoting them. Once the demand is generated and the market expands, the production tries to keep pace and eventually, with a branding effort, the products go global.

Being vocal for ‘local’ can be a stepping-stone to a self-reliant India and an India that will add its own unique glow and charm to the vast array of products in the global marketplace. We can certainly chase the dream of transforming ‘local’ India into a ‘glocal’ India. We can make it come true by using our resources wisely and strategically. We can make it happen by unleashing the forces of growth and giving space for creative experimentation at all levels.

— The writer is the Vice President of India