When India speaks of becoming self-reliant,
it doesn’t advocate a self-centred system. In India’s self-reliance; there is a
concern for the whole world’s happiness, cooperation and peace.
Hon’ble PM Shri
Narendra Modi
Abstract
The covid pandemic, despite all its socio-economic
disruption, has opened new avenues for India to chart its way towards a
self-reliant and sustainable country. India has opted to turn adversity into
opportunity, and is, hence, moving towards realisations of Atma Nirbhar Bharat.
It has clearly spelt out that Atma Nirbhar Bharat will not be a policy of
protectionism and isolationism, but a policy of India working with the world to
produce for the world. PM Modi in his clarion call had clearly marked the five
pillars on which the policy will stand and India has since then taken many
strides towards realisation of the goal.
Introduction
Atma Nirbhar Bharat or self-reliant
India is one of the most ambitious visions of the Prime
Minister Shri Narendra Modi. In principle, the vision is about understanding
India’s present, and based on learnings from the past, to create a new tomorrow
— a new India. In this context, the article, both descriptive and analytical in
nature, aims to understand the concept, campaign, the thrust areas and
relevance of it in the overall development of India as a self-reliant and
self-sustainable country.
In his address to the nation on 12 May
2020, Indian PM Narendra Modi said that an unprecedented crisis has emerged due
to COVID-19, and in this battle, India not only needs to protect itself but also
has to keep moving forward.1 What he referred to is that India has to
protect its interests and its citizens and sustain it largely by itself, which
in other term means an India which is self-dependent. He further said that a
self-reliant India will stand on five pillars viz. Economy, which brings in
quantum jump and not incremental change; Infrastructure, which should become
the identity of India; System, based on 21st century technology driven
arrangements; Vibrant Demography, which is our source of energy for a
self-reliant India; and Demand, whereby the strength of our demand and supply
chain should be utilised to full capacity.2
In short, the call was for a near revamp
of the overall Indian economy, infrastructure, capitalisation on technology,
and utilisation of a vibrant demography through bold reforms to enhance Indian
capacity and capabilities. The address was aimed to chart a new way forward in
a moment of grave national and international crisis. In his address, the PM
also announced a special economic package which, taken together with earlier
announcements during Covid crisis and decisions taken by RBI, was to the tune
of Rs 20 lakh crore; equivalent to almost 10 per cent of India’s GDP.3 Following this announcement, the Finance
Minister, Ms Nirmala Sitharaman, through five press conferences, announced the
detailed measures under the economic package. It was intended to give a
formidable shape to the vision with concrete initiatives towards achieving
‘Atma Nirbhar Bharat’.
Some of the reforms announced by the
finance minister were directly linked to the economic developments and reviving
economy, which in turn is expected to boost the income of the masses. It
included increase in borrowing limits, Privatisation of Public Sector
Enterprise (PSEs), collateral free loans for businesses, corpus for Micro,
Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), Schemes for Non-Banking Financial
Companies (NBFCs), ease of doing business for corporates, amendments to
Companies Act, 2013, concessional credit boost to farmers and
agri-infrastructure fund, one nation on card, free food grain supply to
migrants, Affordable Rental Housing Complexes (ARHC) for migrant workers /
urban poor.4 Later in November, the Union Cabinet gave
approval to introduce the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme in 10 key
sectors for enhancing India’s manufacturing capabilities and enhancing exports
– Atma Nirbhar Bharat.5
Conceptual
Understanding of the Atma Nirbharta
At the very conceptual
level, it has often been interpreted as an isolationist policy, where India
seeks to shield itself from the external shocks. A kind of protectionist policy
followed by India during the pre-liberalisation era that had led to the
economic crisis of 1991. However, the Prime Minister and the Indian Foreign Minister
as also Niti Aayog CEO Amitabh Kant have repeatedly suggested that the policy
is of self-sustainability and sharing Indian products with the world. Amitabh
Kant said, “Atmanirbhar Bharat mission is […] not about protectionism. It’s
about abilities of Indian companies to create world-class products, capture the
Indian market and then use the strength of the domestic market to penetrate the
global market”.6
The External Affairs Minister (EAM) had
taken a step forward in defining Atmanirbharta when he said, “The objective of
Atmanirbhar Bharat is to build greater national capacities so that we can make
a stronger contribution globally. What, according to the EAM, appears to be a
national initiative is basically an endeavour that has the global partnership
at the centre of it, which in turn will contribute to the larger global
rebalancing.7 Indian EAM clearly understands that Indian
economy is intertwined with the global economy, and any shock on the global
economy is going to impact India and its public. The strategic significance of
India’s economy to the world needs to exploited and it can be done only through
making India self-reliant and self-dependent.
At the institutional and administrative
level, the aim is to bring changes to various institutions and administration
that could spur the momentum of change visioned by the government. It visions
reform at the social, bureaucratic, and political level. The essence is to
reform for better quality of governance and policies across the public and private
domain. Society or demography is looked upon as both the engine or agency for
the change and the recipient of these changes. At the centre of any governance
is the society and the people. The policies and the early announcement clearly
put people as the beneficiary.
Five Pillars of
Atma Nirbhar Bharat
The five pillars of
Atma Nirbhar Bharat, as stated by the Indian PM, are crucial because these are
the specific areas that faced the maximum disruption due to covid-19 pandemic
and are equally the most crucial clogs of the wheel for the development.
Economy. The outbreak of covid-19 pandemic
and the subsequent global crisis clearly demonstrated that the world, including
India, was not fully prepared to handle the crisis without external help. The
lack of proper medical infrastructure to scale of the crisis, the existing gaps
in supply and demand of medical equipment and medicine, and the spiral impact
of the lockdowns clearly took toll on the lives of ordinary citizens and had an
impact on the Indian economy. Indian economy was hit hard by the covid-19 as
the informal sector had to bear the brunt of the lockdown because of various
reasons, including migration. One of the consequences of lockdown measures in
the country has led to an unprecedented migration of workers and families from
large urban centres to rural India. For decades, millions of workers have
migrated from their rural homes and villages to urban cities, looking for
opportunities and livelihoods.8
The covid-19 has hit the world economic
order and institutions as well. The existing world order has been challenged
severely as experts are of the view that the neoliberal economic globalisation
will take a major beating in the wake of the pandemic. Economists are warning
of a global recession9, and the impact of the pandemic
on global economy is clearly visible; however, India has been able to recover
much better than many of its counterparts.
Technology. Technology and its related
services played crucial role during the lockdowns. Lockdown placed technology
squarely at the forefront, driving activities digitally and virtually. It was
being used widely to tackle the pandemic. Digitalisation of services — from
telehealth to online education to cashless transfers and emergency assistance
has been at the centre of country’s responses.10 In India, the digital payment, virtual
meetings and seminars, virtual medical consultation became norm and has
continued even after the lockdowns have been lifted, and when the country is
fast moving towards normalcy. Technological support, despite shortcomings, was
instrumental in sustaining the day to day activities as well as the economy.
Technological dependence on the West has
been a persistent problem in the past. However, this is one of the sectors
where India has achieved monumental success in the last 2 decades, and that is
reflected on her performance in other related sectors, including the service
sector. However, despite these successes, India still needs to go a long way in
the new fields of technology, particularly Artificial Intelligence and Quantum
computing and Machine Learning. It is expected that with the PM’s vision for
Atma Nirbhar Bharat, India is going to make quantum jump in the field of
technology. Reliance Jio’s announcement of leading India’s march into the 5G
era with the development of a complete 5G solution is a step towards the
direction. Similarly, Indian technological institutions and education hubs need
to develop technologies made in India and take it further to industry for
production.
Infrastructure. Absence of robust health and
related service infrastructure further compounded India’s problem. The existing
medical infrastructure which caters to 1.37 billion people was left wanting for
enhanced modernisation. The paucity of capabilities to absorb the scale of
hospitalisation and medication attention, almost faced by every other country
including the developed ones, was a factor that forced the Indian government to
look at the infrastructure issue in a renewed manner. It wasn’t the health and
hospitality sector alone that faced the brunt of the pandemic but also the
digital infrastructure, logistics, telecommunication, agriculture and industry
infrastructure and power sector that faced the brunt. Prime Minister in his
speech of 12 May 2020 emphasised on the role of infrastructure, and why
infrastructure should become the identity of India.
Demography. India’s growing population has
two very crucial dimensions to it: first, the larger section of the society is
youth, and is also urban based. According to one of the UN reports, India’s
urban population is estimated to stand at 675 million in 2035, the second
highest behind China’s one billion. The report further says, despite greater
incidence of the virus in urban areas and the economic difficulties created by
the pandemic, cities are once again serving as beacons of opportunity to people
in search of employment, education and training or taking refuge from conflict.11 The urban centres are also centres for
opportunities for a large number of Indians who migrate from rural areas in
search of better prospects and are largely youths.
According to a Ministry of Statistics
and Programme Implementation (MoSPI)’s report titled ‘Youth in India 2022’, by
the year 2036, those above the age of 30 will form the majority of the
country’s population. ‘Youth’, in the report, refers to people in the 15 to 29
age group, as defined in the Centre’s National Youth Policy, 2014.12 Therefore, India in the coming decades will be
fast losing its current advantage of demographic dividend. It may turn out to
be a liability if more jobs, and employment opportunities, are not provided to
the youth. Government understands the urgency to utilise these youth in a
productive manner; and there could not be any other way than to facilitate
their contribution to the growth of the nation. “If India does not create
enough jobs and its workers are not adequately prepared for those jobs, its
demographic dividend may turn into a liability. And education and skill
development will be the biggest enablers for reaping this dividend”, says
another report by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) released on
India’s Demographic Dividend.13 Therefore, understanding the urgency,
government has given special attention to the youth while talking about
Atmanirbharta.
Supply and Demand. In his clarion call for
Atmanirbhar Bharat, the PM clearly emphasised the need to strengthen India’s
demand and supply chain, and its utilisation to full capacity. He underlined
the importance of strengthening all stakeholders in the supply chain to
increase, as well as fulfil, the demand.14 The supply chain reforms included for
agriculture, a rational tax system, simple and clear laws, capable human
resource and a strong financial system to promote business, attract investment,
and further strengthen Make in India.15 It was well evident that the lockdown had
brought severe disruptions to the supply chain which further led to supply side
and demand side shrinking by 22.9 per cent and 23.9 per cent respectively in
Q1, 2020-21.16 The disruption on the supply and demand chain
had impacted the overall consumption and savings of the masses. It had also
impacted production and export of the goods.
The clarion call by the Prime Minister
towards Atmanirbhar Bharat has been implemented by all the sectors, including
private sectors, working in various industries as well as by all the ministries
of the government. The government also identified 12 key sectors where it was
looking to promote quality production not just to make India a self-reliant but
also a global exporter. These 12 sectors are food processing; organic farming;
iron; aluminium and copper; agro-chemicals; electronics; industrial machinery;
furniture; leather and shoes; auto parts; textiles; and coveralls, masks,
sanitisers and ventilators.
To understand the relevance of the
Atmanirbharta during and beyond the pandemic years, it is imperative to look at
one industry that urgently needed indigenous solution to India’s import
dependence — Defence Industry. The overseas dependence has clearly threatened
and undermined India’s defence preparedness and indigenisation.
Defence Sector
Initiatives
Defence sector is one
of the key sectors where India has, for long, been importing its arms and
ammunition. The policy announcement was a big step towards self-reliance in
defence sector. It also offers a great opportunity to the Indian defence
industry to rise to the occasion to manufacture the items in the negative list
by using their own design and development capabilities or adopting the
technologies designed and developed by Defence Research and Development
Organisation (DRDO) to meet the requirements of the armed forces in the coming
years. The government has taken several policy initiatives in the past few
years under ‘Make in India’ program and brought in reforms to encourage
indigenous design, development, and manufacture of defence equipment in the
country, including design and development of the projects like Kamov 31.
It is according priority to procurement
of capital items from domestic sources under Defence Acquisition Procedure
(DAP)-2020. Some other initiatives are: announcement of 18 major defence
platforms for industry led design & development; notification of two
‘Positive Indigenisation Lists’ of total 209 items of Services and one
‘Positive Indigenisation List’ of total 2851 items of Defence Public Sector
Undertakings (DPSUs); simplification of industrial licensing process with
longer validity period; liberalisation of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) policy
allowing 74% FDI under automatic route; simplification of Make Procedure;
launch of innovations for Defence Excellence (iDEX) scheme involving start-ups
& MSMEs; implementation of Public Procurement (preference to Make in India)
Order 2017; reforms in offset policy with thrust on attracting investment and
Transfer of Technology for defence manufacturing by assigning higher
multipliers; and establishment of two Defence Industrial Corridors, one each in
Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu.17
MoD has also launched a ‘SRIJAN’ portal
to promote indigenisation by the industry. 19509 defence items, which were
earlier imported, have been uploaded on the portal for indigenisation. Out of
them, the Indian industry has shown interest for indigenisation of 4006 defence
items so far.18 With focus of government on indigenisation and
procurement of defence products from the domestic resources, the expenditure on
defence procurement from foreign sources has reduced from 46 per cent to 36 per
cent in the last four years, i.e., from 2018-19 to 2021-22. Moreover, the
government, in the last four years, i.e. from 2018-19 to 2021-22, has accorded
Acceptance of Necessity (AoN) to 162 proposals, worth Rs 2,51,130 crore
approximately, under various categories of capital procurement from domestic
sources.19 This clearly suggests that a lot has been
happening under the Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative and the government has been
able to gain some benefit as far as the indigenisation of defence production is
concerned, reflecting in the reduction of the expenditure from foreign sources.
Conclusion
Indian PM’s call for
Atma Nirbharta, amidst a global crisis of unprecedented scale and nature, has
been one of the most astute and bold decision of the government, with its own
share of pitfalls. The demand for making India not just a large-scale market
for the world but also a country that produces for the global market has been
under debate for the last many decades. The clarion call has the potential to
turn the debate into a reality. The government has shown commitment both in
terms of investment, and policy prescription to undertake what it needs to make
India an Atma Nirbhar Bharat; the journey, however, is going to be long and
arduous.
Endnotes
1 PIB, PM gives a clarion call for Atmanirbhar
Bharat PM announces special economic package; comprehensive package of Rs 20
lakh crore Total package equivalent to 10% of India’s GDP PM gives a call for
self-reliant India; lays down five pillars of Atmanirbhar Bharat Bold reforms
across sectors will drive the country’s push towards self-reliance: PM It is
time to become vocal for our local products and make them global: PM, Prime
Minister’s Office, 12 May 2020 https://pib.gov.in/ PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1623391
2 What are the five pillars of a self-reliant
India? Narendra Modi.in 13 May 2020
https://www.narendramodi.in/what-are-the-five-pillars-of-a-self-reliant-india-read-to-find-out-more-549630
3 PIB, PM gives a clarion call for Atmanirbhar
Bharat PM announces special economic package; comprehensive package of Rs 20
lakh crore Total package equivalent to 10% of India’s GDP PM gives a call for
self-reliant India; lays down five pillars of Atmanirbhar Bharat Bold reforms
across sectors will drive the country’s push towards self-reliance: PM It is
time to become vocal for our local products and make them global: PM, Prime
Minister’s Office, 12 May 2020.
4 Summary of announcements : Aatma Nirbhar
Bharat Abhiyaan, PRS Legislative Research,
https://prsindia.org/policy/report-summaries/summary-announcements-aatma-nirbhar-bharat-abhiyaan
5 PIB, Cabinet approves PLI Scheme to 10 key
Sectors for Enhancing India’s Manufacturing Capabilities and Enhancing Exports
– Atmanirbhar Bharat, 11 Novemebr 2020 https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.
aspx?PRID=1671912
6 TV Ramachandran, Atmanirbhar Bharat policies
shouldn’t breed isolationism, The Financial Express, 06 March 2021,
https://www.financialexpress.com/opinion/atmanirbhar-bharat-policies-shouldnt-breed-isolationism/2207288/
7 Address by External Affairs Minister at the
Plenary Session on ‘’Role of Diaspora in Aatmanirbhar Bharat’’ Ministry of
External Affairs, 09 January 2021,
https://mea.gov.in/Speeches-Statements.htm?dtl/33378
8 Iyengar, Karthikeyan P; Jain, Vijay Kumar
(2020). COVID-19 and the plight of migrants in India. Postgraduate Medical
Journal, (), postgradmedj-2020-138454–. doi:10.1136/ postgradmedj-2020-138454
9 https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/covid-19-and-the-crumbling-world-order/article31324259.ece
10 Ms. Era Dabla-Norris, Vitor Gaspar, and Ms.
Kalpana Kochhar, “Preparing for an Unknown World”, International Monetary Fund.
01 June 2020 https://www.imf.org/en/ Publications/fandd/issues/2020/06/the-international-order-post-covid19-dabla
11 PTI, India’s urban population to stand at 675
million in 2035, behind China’s 1 billion: U.N., The Hindu, 30 June 2022.
https://www.thehindu.
com/news/national/indias-urban-population-to-stand-at-675-million-in-2035-behind-chinas-1-billion-un/article65584707.ece
12 Nikhil Rampal, India to lose ‘demographic dividend’?
Govt report says over-30s to outnumber ‘young’ by 2036, The Print, 20 July
2022,
https://theprint.in/india/india-to-lose-demographic-dividend-govt-report-says-over-30s-to-outnumber-young-by-2036/1045964/
13 Can India’s demographic dividend turn into
liability? The Mint, 03 April 2022 https://www.livemint.com/ news/india/demographic-dividend-may-turn-into-liability-what-cii-report-highlights-read-here-11648978956897.html
14 PIB, PM gives a clarion call for Atmanirbhar
Bharat PM announces special economic package; comprehensive package of Rs 20
lakh crore Total package equivalent to 10% of India’s GDP PM gives a call for
self-reliant India; lays down five pillars of Atmanirbhar Bharat Bold reforms
across sectors will drive the country’s push towards self-reliance: PM It is
time to become vocal for our local products and make them global: PM, Prime
Minister’s Office, 12 May 2020 https://pib.gov.in/ PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1623391
15 PM Modi calls for self-reliant India,
announces special economic package; talks of bold reforms, different 4.0
lockdown ANI, May 12, 2020 https://www.aninews.in/ news/national/general-news/pm-modi-calls-for-self-reliant-india-announces-special-economic-package-talks-of-bold-reforms-different-40-lockdown20200512221542/
16 Pravakar Sahoo, India can become self-reliant,
competitive if it cashes in on demographic dividend, The Indian Express, 13
November 2020 https://indianexpress.com/article/ opinion/columns/aatmanirbhar-bharat-india-gdp-7049688/
17 PIB, Atmanirbhar Bharat Initiative in Defence
Production, Ministry of Defence, 01 April 2022. https://pib.gov.in/ PressReleasePage.aspx?
PRID=1812297
18 PIB, Indigenisation of Defence Sector,
Ministry of Defence, 01 April 2022. https://pib.gov.in/ Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1812299
19 PIB, Production of Defence Products, 05 August
2022. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1848670
@Dr Sanjay Kumar is an Associate
Professor in the Department of Defence Studies, Meerut College, Meerut and a
Visiting Professor, United Service Institution of India, New Delhi. He has
authored and edited fifty-one research and text books and has published 200
research papers in various reputed journals.