Innholdsfortegnelse for August 24, 2020 i India Today

Nothing captures a nation’s zeitgeist better than a political slogan. In the mid-1960s in India, it was the guns and butter ‘Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan’. It signified India’s rising military-industrial base and the start of the Green Revolution. This helped independent India realise what was unarguably its most significant achievement—the ability to feed all its people. In 1971, it was Indira Gandhi’s ‘Garibi Hatao’ which signalled the country’s socialist turn (for the worse). In the 1970s, ‘Indira Hatao, Desh Bachao’ became a call to rid the country of a democrat who had briefly turned dictator. More recently, in 2004, it was the Congress that pulled off a shock victory, defeating the BJP’s India Shining campaign with its promise of ‘Congress Ka Haath, Aam Aadmi Ke Saath’. A decade later, Narendra…

₹ 1.14 LAKH CRORE Chinese investments in India since September 2014, spurred by a combination of Beijing’s ‘Going Global’ strategy and the easing of India’s FDI policy. Five sectors accounted for more than 60 per cent of these investments: 327 Critical import items among 4,044 items imported from China. In value terms, these accounted for 74 per cent (Rs 4.98 lakh crore of Rs 6.7 lakh crore) of imports from China in 2018 80% of 4,044 items imported from China in 2018, the country was not the most competitive supplier going for 3,326 items (or 82 per cent of all items imported) 96% of Chinese investments in Indian start-ups have gone into just 10 Indian firms 48% or 31 of the top 65 start-ups in India receive direct funding from…

In the mid-1980s, no country was willing to sell India the missiles it needed to launch nuclear warheads. It was then that the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) was tasked with building not only strategic missiles but also critical tactical ones to make India truly atmanirbhar in this aspect of defence research. The man responsible for helping India achieve that goal was former DRDO chief Dr A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, who later became the President of India. Under Kalam’s guidance, DRDO was able to develop Agni as the country’s main nuclear strike weapon to meet the threats posed by both China and Pakistan. Today, DRDO has even mastered inter-continental ballistic missile (ICBM) capability with both the Agni-V and the planned Agni-VI versions bringing all of China in its range. The…

As part of Atmanirbhar Bharat, the government has cleared private players to carry out space activities. Right now, all space activities in India are carried out only by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), including building rockets and satellites, launching them and using them to provide services to the country. Now, opportunities have been given to the private industry to carry out these activities via a new body called IN-SPACe, or the Indian Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre, through which they can apply and get permissions for these activities. Also, if they want to utilise ISRO’ s facilities for this, we will share it with them. So now the private industry is on a level playing field with ISRO. We can do this with confidence because ISRO has developed self-reliance…

India is the largest provider of generic drugs globally, supplying over 50 per cent of the demand for various vaccines, 40 per cent of generic demand in the US and 25 per cent of all medicines in the UK. The Indian pharmaceutical industry accounts for 3.5 per cent of the total medicines exported across the world. It is also the third largest in the world by volume. There are more than 3,000 registered pharma companies and 10,500-plus manufacturing facilities. As of 2019-20, the total size of the pharmaceutical and related industries was around US $51 billion or Rs 3.8 lakh crore. But for a growing sector, there are major challenges. India imports 86 per cent of the total requirement of medical devices, including surgical, cardiac stents and electronic gadgets. It…

It all starts with self-belief, with atmavishvas. We have to first recognise our capabilities, potential and aspirations to pursue this path of self-reliance. You have to create a nation and an economy that can be sustainable. How do we build a sustainable economy, a self-reliant one with inherent capabilities and skills to handle challenges? Increased import duties or banning imports are policies that create an artificial environment of self-reliance. I have always believed that you have to be globally competitive. You have to elicit a huge sense of credibility in terms of what you can do. I don’t think we should be doing this by banning or artificially creating a no-competition zone for ourselves. Because then we devalue our capabilities. India has to be an interconnected part of the global…

he golden age of Indian agriculture may finally have begun. The Rs 1 lakh crore Agriculture Infrastructure Fund, launched on August 9, will support farmers, primary agricultural credit societies, farmer-producer organisations (FPOs) and agri entrepreneurs in building community farming assets and post-harvest infrastructure. These assets will enable farmers to get greater value for their produce as they will be able to store and sell at higher prices, reduce wastage, increase processing and add value. About 85 million farmers are already getting investment support (six tranches have been disbursed) under the PM-Kisan scheme. India exports over $35 billion worth of agricultural products annually. But there are still many challenges—the vagaries of nature, developing high quality seeds, raising the right crops under diverse agro-climatic conditions among them. The government, through the Small…

India’s information technology (IT) sector has left an indelible imprint globally. The country not only commands a 55 per cent market share in the $200-250 billion global services sourcing business (2019-20), our IT and business process management (BPM) companies have established over 1,000 delivery centres in about 80 countries. The Indian IT and BPM industry’s revenue was pegged at around $191 billion (Rs 14 lakh crore) in 2019-20, growing at 7.7 per cent year-on-year. It is estimated to grow to $350 billion by 2025, of which BPM will comprise $50-55 billion. The India Brand Equity Foundation, of the Department of Commerce, estimates our digital economy to touch $1 trillion by 2025. The IT sector is also a large employer for the skilled workforce. The total employees of the four Indian…

According to a 2019 Nasscom report, seven ‘unicorns’— private firms valued at over $1 billion—were founded in India in the first eight months of that year. The number of potential unicorns more than tripled from 15 in 2018 to 52 in 2019. The realisation of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s call for an Atmanirbhar Bharat is closely tied to the success of the innovation ecosystem in India. Nonetheless, homegrown brands struggle for a lack of capital or infrastructure. Notably, according to the Hurun Global Unicorn Index 2020, two of every three unicorns founded by Indian entrepreneurs are headquartered outside the country. Doing business in India and scaling it up remains a challenge. Regulatory compliances, even with the government’s Startup India mission, continue to stifle innovation. Experts argue that several changes are…

The health sector in India is a mixed bag. The country’s public spending on healthcare is the lowest among middle income countries, though more domain specialists drive policy as Union ministers than in any other ministry, including finance. Most Indians tend to prefer private healthcare, even though it is more expensive compared to free public healthcare and varies in quality. And while India has world-class hospitals, like Medanta, Apollo and Narayana Health, which have revolutionised healthcare for the middle and upper classes, the promised universal healthcare for the millions in the countryside eludes us still. Many of the 23,673 primary health centres in India exist largely on paper for want of doctors, nurses, paramedical technicians and medicines. The atmanirbhar challenge in health care for India would be to replicate the…

For a country of 1.3 billion, India’s failure to even win 10 Olympic gold medals in all these years speaks volumes about the country’s abysmal sporting culture and the role of governments in fostering it. However, the scenario is just the opposite when it comes to India’s national obsession—cricket. The game has not only given the country and the world some of the legends in the field, but has also made the BCCI (Board of Control for Cricket in India) the world’s richest and most powerful cricketing body. Taking advantage of this financial clout, the board has gifted cricket lovers worldwide an annual tournament in the form of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a unique blend of instant cricket and money power. IPL ESTABLISHED: 2008 Said to be the world’s…

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for an ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ is about making India self-confident. It is encouraging the country to embrace innovation and is about making India an integral part of the global supply chain, a top-class manufacturing nation and just excelling overall. It is certainly not about isolation and being anti-globalisation. The prime minister’s view is that India must use the strength of its domestic market to produce goods and use that as a springboard for exports. There are a lot of products that we are importing today which we should be able to, logically, manufacture in India. There are several things that India needs to do to make Atmanirbhar Bharat a success. Firstly, India needs to begin manufacturing at a large scale. We have always provided capital subsidy,…

Mahindra & Mahindra (M&M) assembled its first vehicle in 1947, and today offers a wide range of products, from SUVs to electric vehicles (EVs), commercial vehicles, trucks and buses, tractors, two-wheelers and construction equipment. The firm commenced exports in the 1960s. Today, its vehicles and tractors can be found across the world. It has accelerated the incorporation of technology at its facilities—the focus is on improving output through digital and additive manufacturing, artificial intelligence and robotics and automation. A pioneer of electric mobility in India, M&M also recently showcased a wide range of EVs, from concept vehicles to passenger and commercial vehicles. Officials say that end-to-end farm mechanisation remains an important focus area for the firm, with continued investment in modern tractor technologies and crop-specific mechanisation solutions. Key priorities in…

A country as big as India should have a strong manufacturing base; unfortunately, we don’t. A large part of our [industrial] requirements, including raw materials and components, should be produced in India. This is not to say one should aim for 100 per cent self-sufficiency in everything—there are certain raw materials that are not available in India, certain technologies that have very large economies of scale. However, what we produce in India must also be [globally] competitive, cost and quality wise. Manufacturing products that are not of high quality or cost effective are not in the interest of the nation. When investors consider which country to invest in, they look at the factors required to run a business—that will enable them to produce quality goods at minimum cost, that create…

India is currently the world’s second-largest telecom market, with a subscriber base of over 1.2 billion. The sector was liberalised under the National Telecom Policy, 1994, allowing the entry of private players—this, along with strong demand, led to the rapid growth in the Indian telecom sector. In 2019, India surpassed the US to also become the second largest market worldwide in terms of the number of app downloads. In the recent past, however, the sector has had its share of troubles—for instance, the 2G spectrum imbroglio that led to the Supreme Court cancelling 122 licences issued by the UPA government in 2008. In October last year, the Supreme Court also ordered telcos to pay over Rs 1 lakh crore in cumulative dues to the government as revenue share for their…

The Lalbhais founded Arvind Mills in 1931 in response to Mahatma Gandhi’s call for swadeshi. That spirit has informed its ethos ever since. The first dye and chemical plant it set up in 1952 was again to reduce India’s dependence on imported dyes and chemicals. However, it was denim that its name became synoymous with in the eighties. What began as the need to fulfill the requirements of his brother-in-law Rajiv Dadlani’s Flying Machine brand became a full-fledged mission for Sanjay Lalbhai, and the spark for the country’s denim revolution. It’s an affair that continues, through ups and downs, through reinventions and diversification. Now, the company has stretch, khadi, ikat and wearable tech denim in its portfolio. Simultaneously, the company fulfilled Indians’ need for international wear, introducing, through collaborations, brands…

Paytm (owned by One97 Communications) is India’s largest digital payments company. It has also grown to become a financial services company, driving innovation in digital transactions. It introduced the concept of digital wallets and online payments to cash-loving Indians, taking its wallet services to every nook and corner of the country. Its growth was accelerated by government policies such as demonetisation in 2016, which rendered nearly 86 per cent of cash in circulation at the time useless. Paytm’s revenues are primarily earned through its digital wallet services and its mobile-only marketplace, Paytm Mall. The company is valued at around Rs 75,000-90,000 crore ($10-12 billion), according to news reports. It has said that it is looking to more than double its transaction volume to 12 billion by end of 2019-20, from…

India is the third largest producer of coal, with a 729.1 million tonne output in 2019-20; fourth in global iron ore production, at 205.7 mt; and the world’s second largest crude steel producer at 111.2 mt. Yet, India’s coal imports rose nearly 7 per cent to 251 mt in 2019-20, with production falling for the first time in over two decades. This June, the government launched the auction of 41 coal mines with a capacity of nearly a third of the national output. “Atmanirbhar means we become the biggest exporters of the commodities we now import,” PM Modi said then. India is the third largest aluminium producer (3.65 mt in 2019-20) and its fifth largest consumer. India is endowed with good quality coal and bauxite reserves, but the aluminium industry…

At the core of the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ slogan sits the ambition to make Indian manufacturing both self-reliant and globally competitive. However, the journey to self-reliance is far from easy, and will require protectionist incentives to produce locally. Aligned with this vision, there is now a negative list of defence imports, production-linked incentives for electronic goods and support to produce bulk drugs and medical devices. A snapshot: DEFENCE 101 items listed for gradual import substitution over five years Imports of 69 (of these 101) items to stop from Dec. 2020 ₹ 3.5 LAKH CR spent on imports of items on the new negative list in the past five years There are plans to source even long-range cruise missiles locally from 2025 Included in the negative list are: ELECTRONICS Performance-linked incentives—4-6 per…

There are three crown jewels of Indian science and technology that demonstrated the spirit of Atmanirbhar Bharat much before Prime Minister Narendra Modi articulated his vision. These three jewels, government-owned scientific institutions, have made the country proud through their achievements. Take the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) which was established in 1948—it ensured the country’s security by developing and building nuclear weapons of a wide range: atomic bombs, boosted fission weapons and the hydrogen bomb. On the civilian front, the AEC has mastered nuclear power technology, enhancing India’s electricity supply. Meanwhile, the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), has ensured that the country join the big boys of space by mastering both rocket and satellite technology, and even undertaking planetary exploration. Not to be left behind, the Defence Research and Development Organisation…

Ever since the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) was set up in 1972, it has earned a reputation for delivering constantly apart from propelling India into the exclusive club of spacefaring nations that have the full range of technological capability. Satish Dhawan, its first chairman, pioneered ISRO’s mission approach—breaking silos and hierarchy to work as a team to accomplish a task. Initially, India depended on the US, Europe and the erstwhile Soviet Union on technology for rocket launchers and satellites. Within decades, ISRO became self-sufficient not only in rocket technology but also built state-of-the-art satellites. Given that an average rocket launcher and satellite cost Rs 500 crore to build and launch, with over 60 successful indigenously-built launchers and an equal number of satellites, ISRO has over the years saved the…

The Department of Atomic Energy has been doing indigenous development for some time now; a majority of components used in any activity we are involved in are made in India. We have been following the atmanirbhar principle to a great extent all along. In nuclear power, our pressurised heavy water reactor is as good as that of any other country that makes them. Some of the power plants built by Nuclear Power Corporation have neared world records for continuous operation, which is proof of our quality standards. In our quest for indigenisation, we have involved the Indian industry to work with us as a team rather than as partner and supplier. We were able to inspire confidence in our country’s capability to build high precision and quality equipment. We have…

IN 2019, India became the world’s fifth-largest auto market, with domestic sales of 21.5 million vehicles. Automobile exports reached 4.77 million units that year, with two-wheelers making up 73.9 per cent of vehicles exported. Meanwhile, the auto components industry was valued at Rs 4.23 lakh crore in 2018-19. In recent years, Indian automotive companies, from original equipment makers to auto parts manufacturers, have stepped on to the global stage, exporting to the West Asia, Latin America and Asia-Pacific regions, and are critical suppliers in the global value chain. They have leveraged their domestic success to build an impressive international market, especially for two-wheelers, farm equipment and auto components. But more needs to be done. For several years, imports from China have dominated the automotive components space. According to the Automotive…

Motherson Sumi Systems is one of the top automotive parts companies in the world. The domestic turnover of the listed company has grown from Rs 19.3 crore at the time of listing in India in 1993, to Rs 6,628 crore in 2019-20, with the group’s turnover at Rs 84,429 crore. In 1999, Maruti Suzuki accounted for almost 80 per cent of its business. Today, the company operates in 41 countries, with nearly 90 per cent of its business coming from outside India. The company has made 21 acquisitions across the globe—today, it has over 270 facilities and 24 design centres and employs perhaps 135,000 people. It also has 36 state-of-the-art research and development laboratories. It counts some of the world’s largest automakers among its clients, including Toyota, Daimler and Volkswagen.…

In the 1970s, with annual milk production in India stagnant at around 21 million metric tonnes (MMT), India was largely dependent on imports for milk and milk products. Domestic milk producers were also in a state of penury. It was then that a tripartite commitment was made by the stakeholders, policy-makers and the political leadership of India to replicate the successful Amul model of milk cooperatives (created soon after Independence by Tribhuvandas Patel and Dr Verghese Kurien) across the country. With the success of Operation Flood, the country is not only atmanirbhar inmilk production, it is also the largest producer of milk in the world. India’s annual milk production is now 189 MMT, and per capita availability is 400 gm. The White Revolution has also enabled 100 million households become…

India is one of the world’s largest producers of textiles and garments. The textile sector is one of our oldest industries, with a mix of hand-spun and hand-woven textiles on the one end and capital-intensive sophisticated mills on the other. Power looms, hosiery and knitting form the largest component of the sector that contributed 7 per cent to India’s industry output in value terms in 2018-19. Overall, the industry contributes 2 per cent to the country’s GDP, employs about 45 million people and contributed 15 per cent to our export earnings in 2018-19. Globally, India is ranked second in textile export with a 6 per cent share and fifth in apparel export with 4 per cent share. In terms of capacity, the industry has the second largest vertically integrated textiles…

India ranked 44th in a list of 167 countries in the World Bank’s Logistics Performance Index for 2018—an indication that the country has a long way to go before achieving optimal infrastructure development across the board, be it power, roads, bridges, dams or urban renewal projects. Last December, finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman unveiled projects worth Rs 102 lakh crore—to be implemented over the next five years—as part of an infrastructure push. The Centre and the states will execute 39 per cent each of these projects, the remaining being with the private sector. These will cover power, railways, urban irrigation, mobility, education and health. This April, the Centre set a target of constructing roads worth Rs 15 lakh crore in the next two years. India is also witnessing significant interest from…

For the first time in the past one decade, India turned a net exporter of chemicals in 2019-20. Against imports worth $44.3 billion (Rs 3.3 lakh crore), the country exported products worth $45 billion. India is a hub for petrochemicals, agrochemicals, industrial chemicals, pharmaceuticals and fertilisers, with a market size of $180 billion that is poised to grow to $300 billion in the next five years. For feedstock (petrochemicals and fertilisers) and molecules (agrochemicals and pharmaceuticals), however, we remain dependent on imports. Self-reliance in chemicals production will require policy interventions, initiatives by companies, industry-academic partnerships, investment and greater international access. RELIANCE INDUSTRIES (PETROCHEMICALS) ESTABLISHED: 1982 Fuelling India Reliance Industries Limited (RIL) is the largest producer of petrochemicals in the country and amongst the top 10 in the world. Its refinery…

In a country where Ayurveda was conceptualised as a way of life by Charaka in 100 BC and surgery was being practised by Sushruta in 600 BC, it’s not surprising to witness several success stories around Ayurvedic products. From the ubiquitous chyawanprash, seen in almost every Indian household, to now herbal toothpastes and shampoos, health consciousness has often dictated our product choices. However, logistical hurdles—non-availability of raw material, storage issues and commercial viability of large-scale production—make manufacturing high-quality, Ayurveda-driven products a hard task. Despite these challenges, several Indian brands have not only disrupted the established order and taken on the might of global multinationals, but also consistently enhanced their footprint in global markets. The export value of Ayurvedic and herbal products from India has increased from $355 million in 2015…

Q. Your last film was in 2015. Where have you been all this while? I’ve been on a blissful island thinking I’m a newlywed even after four and a half years of marriage. But last year, during his Diwali party, Mr Bachchan asked me, “Why are you not working?” He looked at my husband who said it’s her call. I began modelling at age 15, acting at 19. The last few years, I’ve been able to spend time with my parents and sisters which I never got to do earlier. Q. You complete 20 years in cinema next year. How has the journey been so far? I am happy and proud of myself. From day one to now I have never compromised on who I am for acting and what…