Make in India - Encourage or discourage?

After the recent Chinese incursions and standoff at Galwan, there has been a renewed push for boycotting Chinese goods and Make in India.

On one hand, there are rosy pictures being circulated on social media about how India will take on Chinese influence by doing this. On the other hand, there are some prominent Indian media publications like The Hindu, FirstPost and TOI who are reporting that boycotting Chinese goods and pushing for Make in India will not affect the Chinese because Indian market matters very little to China but will cause pain to India due to critical components and equipment shortage.

I don’t know whether these are earnest assessments or “motivated” by some external influences, but I find them very demotivating in their tone and thus irresponsible.

It may be true that India makes for only 3% of Chinese exports and not being able to export to India will not affect China. But I would make a case to grab this as an opportunity to decrease the dependence on China and strengthen the Indian manufacturing environment even if to show the world that India can be a viable alternative to China for manufacturing. Of course this will be gradual and not happen overnight.

So where do we start? I’d say right at the bottom just like the Chinese - with cheap plastic and metal household goods, which don’t need high technical competence unlike mobiles and laptops. This will help us build the basic supply chain and manufacturing ecosystems that support our move up the value chain. We also need to innovate when producing these goods - just like we see shared videos on WhatsApp about innovative kitchen and domestic gadgets. Attention to quality and detail is important. Only then will we be able to gain the buyers’ trust about our capability.

Logistics and goods movement is another area where we need to pay attention and improve the infrastructure for this. Again - possible with available capabilities. It needs political and bureaucratic will though.

And very importantly, the endemic graft and corruption needs to be curbed to control the costs that manufacturers incur for bribes in getting loans, acquiring land, in keeping the government officials off their backs and politically backed goons interfering in everyday functioning for favors, concessions and protection money.

That is where the media should concentrate - encouraging and guiding the eager instead of writing discouraging articles on how India will not make a difference the Chinese economic engine or not.