Atmanirbhar Bharat

Atmanirbhar Bharat (English: Self-reliant India) is the vision of the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi of making India a self-reliant nation. The first mention of this came in the form of the 'Atmanirbhar Bharata Abhiyan' or 'Self-Reliant India Mission' during the announcement of the coronavirus pandemic related economic package on 12 May 2020.[1] This self-reliant policy does not aim to be protectionist in nature and as the Finance Minister clarified, "self-reliant India does not mean cutting off from rest of the world".[2] The law and IT minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, said that self-reliance does "not mean isolating away from the world. Foreign direct investment is welcome, technology is welcome [...] self-reliant India... translates to being a bigger and more important part of the global economy."[3]

Initiatives

As part of the Atmanirbhar Bharat package, numerous government decisions have taken place such as changing the definition of MSMEs,[4] boosting scope for private participation in numerous sectors,[5] increasing FDI in the defence sector;[5] and the vision has found support in many sectors such as the solar manufacturers sector.[6]

Examples of initiatives helping Atmanirbhar Bharat
  • The growth of India's personal protective equipment (PPE) sector from zero before March, to 1,50,000 pieces a day by the beginning of May, is considered as a fine example of a self-reliant India.[7][8] The PPE industry in India has become a ₹7,000 crore (US$980 million) in two months, the second largest after China.[9]
  • The largest fund in the country worth ₹21,000 crore (US$2.9 billion) was setup by the IIT Alumni Council with the aim of supporting the mission towards self-reliance.[10]
  • India's own 'Made in India' 5G network was also announced in July 2020 by Reliance Jio.[11] Mukesh Ambani announced in mid-July "Jio has created a complete 5G solution from scratch, that will enable us to launch a world-class 5G service in India, using 100 per cent homegrown technologies and solutions".[11]
  • In August 2020, the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh announced that the Defence Ministry is "now ready for a big push to Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative" by imposing an "import embargo on 101 items" in a staged manner over a period of 5 years.[12][13]

Commentary

Atmanirbhar Bharat has been called by some as a re-packaged version of the Make in India movement using new taglines such as 'Vocal for Local'.[14][15] Other opposition members spoke about how India had enacted policies and built companies since its creation to make India self-reliant - SAIL for steel production, IITs for domestic engineers, AIIMS for medical science, DRDO for defence research, HAL for aviation, ISRO for space, CCL, NTPC and GAIL in the area of energy; criticizing the advertising tactics.[16] Some have re-phrased it to "Fend For Yourself" Campaign.[17]

Calls for India to boycott Chinese products (and promote an Atmanirbhar Bharat instead), are practically difficult in the short term for India as India imports $75 billion worth of goods every year from China, to the extent that parts of Indian industry are dependent on China.[18] Following the Galwan Valley skirmish on 15 June 2020 in which around 40 Chinese soldiers and 20 Indian soldiers died, Swadeshi Jagaran Manch said that if the government was serious about making India self-reliant, Chinese companies should not be given projects such as the Delhi-Meerut RRTS.[19][20] Results of the boycott China movement started showing in early August, with Government of China's customs data showing that Chinese exports to India had fallen by 25% as compared to the same period in 2019.[21]

See also

References
  1. Misra, Udit (13 May 2020). "PM Modi's self-reliant India Mission economic package: Here is the fine print". The Indian Express. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  2. "'To spur growth': Nirmala Sitharaman on PM Modi's Atamanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan". Hindustan Times. 13 May 2020. Retrieved 13 May 2020.
  3. "Bennett University webinar: Need to tap Artificial Intelligence to fight Covid, says IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad". The Economic Times. 26 May 2020. Retrieved 26 May 2020.
  4. "Atmanirbhar Bharat: Union Cabinet approves changes in definition of MSMEs". Business Standard India. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  5. Mishra, Hari Hari (1 June 2020). "Post-COVID-19 Atma Nirbhar Bharat: Time to usher in an industrial and agricultural revolution". Business Today. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  6. "Solar manufacturers extend support to govt's Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan". Economic Times ETEnergyworld. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  7. "Building Atmanirbhar Bharat & Overcoming COVID-19 | National Portal of India". www.india.gov.in. Archived from the original on 12 June 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  8. "From zero, India now produces around 2 lakh PPE kits per day". The Times of India. 5 May 2020. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  9. Bhushan, Ranjit (10 June 2020). "From PPE kits to sanitisers to ventilators, COVID-19 has sparked off an indigenous cottage industry boom". Moneycontrol. Retrieved 12 June 2020.
  10. "IIT Alumni Council to create ₹21,000-cr social initiative fund". The Hindu @businessline. 26 June 2020. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  11. "Reliance Jio 'Made in India' 5G solution announced at RIL AGM 2020: Details inside". The Indian Express. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 27 July 2020.
  12. Kaushik, Krishn (10 August 2020). "Explained: What is the negative imports list for defence announced by Rajnath Singh?". The Indian Express. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  13. Philip, Snehesh Alex (9 August 2020). "Artillery guns, assault rifles, AFVs — Here's a list of 101 items MoD won't import in future". ThePrint. Retrieved 11 August 2020.
  14. "'Repackaged version of Make in India': Shashi Tharoor on PM Modi's Self-reliant India Mission". Hindustan Times. ANI. 13 May 2020. Retrieved 14 May 2020.
  15. "Self-reliant India: The bounce of vocal for local". The New Indian Express. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  16. Kumar, Abhay (31 May 2020). "Shatrughan Sinha takes jibe at PM over 'Atma-nirbhar Bharat'". Deccan Herald. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  17. Sahay, Anand K. (29 May 2020). "Anand K Sahay | 'Atma Nirbhar Bharat': A mantra to mask failure?". Deccan Chronicle. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
  18. HV, Harish (5 June 2020). "'Atmanirbharta' from China — easier said than done". The Hindu @businessline. Retrieved 5 June 2020.
  19. Arnimesh, Shanker (15 June 2020). "RSS affiliate wants Modi govt to cancel Chinese firm's bid for Delhi-Meerut RRTS project". ThePrint. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  20. Shrivastava, Rahul (16 June 2020). "Chinese firm bids lowest for Delhi-Meerut project, RSS affiliate asks Modi govt to scrap company's bid". India Today. Retrieved 18 June 2020.
  21. "Boycott China manifests! Chinese exports to India crash 25% in 2020; trade down 19%". Business Today. 8 August 2020. Retrieved 11 August 2020.

Further reading
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