FILE PHOTO: Nitin Gadkari, president of India's main opposition Hindu-nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party , speaks during an interview with Reuters at his party office in New Delhi April 9, 2010. INDIA-BJP/ REUTERS/Adnan Abidi
NEW DELHI - India’s government plans to promote the manufacturing of selected products, especially lines in which China enjoys a big share in the global market, as part of efforts to reduce imports and push exports, a cabinet minister said on Monday. The government aims to attract foreign investments in pre-identified areas, promote joint ventures and support local businesses to expand India’s share of global markets, Nitin Gadkari, India’s minister for MSME , told a virtual conference.
“There is an opportunity for India in sectors where China enjoys a big share in the global market,” he said. In the last few months, the government has announced production-linked incentives for manufacturing of electronics, medical devices and pharmaceutical products while putting restrictions on imports of Chinese products.
This revolutionary concept is called import substitution, practiced by several stagnant developing nations for decades with poor results. India is already so hostile to imports, can’t see how this will help.