Perspective on AatmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan
Globalization received a major setback recently due to the onset of covid-19 pandemic that inflicted massive health and economic havoc across the world and forced the nations to pursue protective policies for preventing loss of lives & livelihoods of the people.
India being a neighbor of an originator of the covid virus besides being second most populous globalized country also suffered heavily from this problem and as a result in mid-2020 initiated a nation-wide Self-Reliant India campaign referred as AtmaNirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (ABA).
ABA is designed to make Indian economy self-reliant through institutional reforms, technological transformation, increased investment in infrastructure and by supporting and promoting domestic and indigenous products and enterprises for improving their functioning and building domestic supply capacity to minimize imports and fulfill high and growing domestic and global demand for the sustenance and growth of the nation.
ABA is essentially an upgraded version of a 6-year-old Make in India program although the choice of the national language in ABA is intended to make it more connected with the masses of the nation. Moreover, Bharat is believed to resonate much more with rural and relatively less developed part of India and so deserves greater support for both improving the life of its inhabitants and as well as for high sustainable growth of India.
ABA pushes for Make in India territorial concept involving either Made by Indians or foreigners; Made for Indians or World; Made from Indian or foreign capital with marginal preference on the identity of Indians as a producer, consumer or investor.
The underlying belief is that if any product or service is made in India with or without foreign partnership, then it induces a virtuous cycle of higher multiplier impact in terms of higher domestic income, employment, consumption, investment and growth.
The ABA also intends to build India as a leading global manufacturing hub for domestic and foreign markets as against the current position of India as only a leading market for foreign products and enterprises. This is being done by positioning India as a safer and better alternative option compared to other countries and China who has been globally recognised as the epicenter of the current global health crisis and is also a major supplier of multiple products to most countries who are now keen to reduce their reliance and risk on China through diversification of their product portfolio towards other countries such as India.
It is popularly believed that every country like every individual & organization cannot be best in everything they do. They must identify & tap its comparative advantage over things that they do relatively better than other countries. However, it is also true that comparative advantage is partly an endogenous factor and is highly dynamic in nature that can be altered by relevant and timely interventions by the country. The pursuit of ABA campaign in this context has a potential to bring large improvement in and creation of the comparative advantage of India over others across multiple sectors and industries through following possible ways:
- First, building upon sectors where India already enjoys a superior advantage over others and where India can further strengthen its dominance through favorable public policies and infrastructure investment.
- Second, systemic process of identifying and prioritizing existing list of products & industries which India imports heavily and among those which it has a potential to reduce and perhaps reverse the trend (for ex- having small marginal cost differential, abundant local & human resources but handicapped by infrastructure or technology which can be resolved in short-run via targeted measures).
- Third, focusing on upcoming on-demand future global products & industries (ex- digital economy, AI/IOT/Drones/etc.) in which India could take the lead via first mover advantage through proactive policy nudges and public investment for increased private investment and innovation from industry.
- Fourth, supporting indigenous innovative products & industries in which India has a unique differentiated advantage over the rest of the world. Here, Indian diversity can certainly help better for accelerating Innovations.
India is an incredible nation of inspiring ideas & innovations led by industrious individuals and is also undergoing significant positive transformation through progressive people, principles, policies, practices, processes and platforms. However, Bharat needs continuous push from all private and public parties towards better sustainable development performance reflected in better quality of life of people and planet. ABA thus promises to drive the collective pursuit of people towards restoring and realizing the pride and potential of themselves and their nation.
