India’s key point of departure under Atmanirbhar Bharat or Self-Reliant India Programme is its time-lined commitment to industrialise key sectors in the Economy and National Affairs so India’s demand for goods and services are met locally, with very little reliance on imports. Apart from agriculture, sectors targeted for local manufacture include:
- Medical equipment and pharmaceuticals;
- Electronics;
- Plastics;
- Gems and jewellery;
- Textiles;
- Steel and,
- Defence Industry.
India has thus embarked on local manufacturing to create local supply chains which supply local markets first, before venturing outward to meet global demand. Where it is still to build capabilities, India has targeted foreign direct investment, FDI, so industries are set up on Indian soil and employ Indians for skills transfer.
Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan is thus not protectionism; nor is it averse to FDI and international trade.
It merely localises value chains to meet local demand first, before going global with home-grown and tested brands. To achieve all this, India coined two encapsulating mantras: “Manufacture in India” and “Be Vocal for Local”. Clearly, this is an interesting response to the current global crisis, indeed one predicated on India’s history, inner resource, key competencies and huge geography and demography which makes it a whole subcontinent. We can learn a lot from this.
There is a lot we have done already which makes Indian experience kindred. We both face similar global challenges; we both value agriculture; our two nations are modernising our infrastructures; both our nations have high literacy levels on which to develop higher tertiary skills. Above all, Zimbabwe enjoys very good relations with India which has been supporting us in a number of areas, principally that of energy. It also is part of a region we have always related to in our long history.
Of course they are key, material differences which, fortunately do not make the Indian experience inapplicable to our local circumstances. With over a billion people, India, like China, enjoys a huge demographic dividend which translates to a huge internal market. Although our population is small, we have SADC and Africa to offset that. Our national demand for goods and services is very healthy, and has even been felt across our borders. That means our internal market is significant and can be developed further.
While India is definitely ahead of us by way of tertiary skills, our high literacy level and the sheer industry of our people puts us in good stead. Our programme of innovative hubs in tertiary institutions already gives us a head-start in harnessing the national urge for innovation. Our Nyika Inovakwa Nevene Vayo philosophy compares quite favourably with India’s Atmanirbhar Bharat philosophy. So, too, does our Value-Chain Approach to industrialisation, complemented by our “Buy Zimbabwe”, both of which echo India’s “Make in India” and “Be Vocal for Local” campaigns. As with Mahatma Ghandi’s Swadesh or Self-Reliance Movement launched at the beginning of the last Century as part of India’s Struggle for National Independence, we, too, had our “None-But-Ourselves” philosophy at the core of our National Struggle for Independence. Our Liberation Armies were as much a production Force as they were a military and political one. History thus equips us, while current global challenges fortify our resolve to creatively navigate between the local and global.
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