In May 2020, Prime Minister, Mr. Narendra Modi launched the Self-reliant India (Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan) mission to promote Indian goods in the global supply chain markets and help the country achieve self-reliance. The mission was announced amid the pandemic when the government allocated funds worth Rs. 20 lakh crore (US$ 268.74 billion), which amounts to ~10% of India’s GDP, as a stimulus package to help recover the economy by promoting incentives for domestic production. It encompasses themes such as ‘Local for Global: Make in India for the World’ and ‘Vocal for Local’.
The key objectives of the ‘Self-reliant India’ (Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan) mission are as follows:
The Indian manufacturing sector's share in gross value added (GVA) stood at 15.1% in FY20, over 18.4% in FY11, indicating an underlying inertia, despite the country's high and rising private consumption demand. Moreover, this downturn in the domestic manufacturing sector has resulted in greater reliance on imports to meet the rising demand.
In 2020, a report by Acuite Ratings & Research identified 40 sub-sectors (such as agro-based products, drug formulations, chemicals, automobile components, handicrafts, cosmetics and consumer electronics) that accounted for imports worth ~US$ 33.6 billion from China. According to the report, India’s domestic manufacturing possess capabilities to replace 25% of the total imports (indicating savings of ~0.3% of the GDP) from China without additional investments. It added that in FY22, the country could reduce US$ 8.4 billion worth trade deficit with China, by substituting imports from sectors such as drug formulations, chemicals, automobile components, handicrafts, cosmetics, and consumer electronics.
The Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan 2021 is likely to benefit numerous industries.
Primary Sector |
In this sector, agriculture, mining and fishing are the three key industries. |
Secondary Sector |
This sector comprises industries such as construction, manufacturing, utilities, MSMEs (Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises) and cottage. |
Tertiary Sector |
This sector includes key services—from retail, tourism, banking, real estate, media & entertainment, telecommunication to hospitality & leisure and information technology. |
Quaternary Sector |
This sector consists of education, research & development and public sector industries. |
This mission focuses on the following four key factors—Land, Labour, Liquidity and Laws. In line with these factors, the government introduced several initiatives, between 2014 and 2020, to help the country achieve self-reliance.
Key Factors |
Government initiatives (between 2014 and 2020) to boost ‘Self-reliant India’ (Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan) mission |
Land & Labour |
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Liquidity |
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Laws |
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The key beneficiaries of this mission include Shramiks (labourers/workers); Kisans (farmers); daily wage earners, who work for the country's growth; ‘middle class’ people who pay income tax to the government and ‘upper class’ people who give the economy strength
The government announced an Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package (ANB 1.0) in May 2020 and launched two additional Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan packages in end-2020 (ANB 2.0 and ANB 3.0) to maintain the progress. The overall Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package, including the RBI initiatives, was estimated at ~27.1 lakh crore (US$ 362.49 billion), or >13% of the GDP.
With the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan package, the government facilitated structural reforms such as redefinition of MSMEs, commercialisation of the mineral sector, agriculture & labour reforms, privatisation of public sector undertakings, One Nation One Ration Card initiative and production-linked incentive schemes.
Under the Self-reliant India (Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan), the government implemented the following schemes:
The key achievements of the Self-reliant India (Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan) mission are as follows:
India ranked 63rd out of 190 countries in the World Bank's ‘Ease of Doing Business 2020’ survey, indicating a favourable business environment in the country. The recent government reforms, such as allowing private companies to operate in key industries, introducing agriculture initiatives & labour reforms and enabling commercial coal mining, serve as strong pillars to aid development of India’s economy and present huge opportunities for the country to become self-reliant.
In addition, strong budgetary push for the manufacturing sector, MSMEs, along with supportive PLI reforms, will boost the domestic manufacturing companies and attract foreign companies to invest in the country; thereby, foster India’s path to achieve self-reliance.