With government support, India can become self-reliant and replace China as a technology gear-supplier: Industry leaders

As the “Boycott China” sentiment runs high in the country amidst the India-China border face-off, industry leaders, in an ongoing series of webinars being organized by Foreign Correspondent Club South Asia (FCC), have stated that India can replace China as a leading low-cost, high-technology telecom and technology equipment supplier, provided it gets the right amount of government incentives and funding to compete with global players in the world market.

The most predominant idea that came across through the series is that the government needs to strengthen the industry by helping it to come out of the financial depression, to make India a strong competitor to China. Centering around the idea of self-reliance, the meeting was presided by three leading business leaders: CP Gurnani, MD and CEO, Tech Mahindra, Rajan Mathews, DG, COAI (Cellular Operators’ Association of India), and senior government official Dinesh Tyagi- CEO, CSC e-Governance Services India Limited.

They also felt that policy initiatives, public-private partnership and an enabled entrepreneurship ecosystem down to the last mile are needed to leapfrog India towards an AtmaNirbhar Bharat (Self-Reliant India) with a US$5-trillion economy. The AtmaNirbhar Bharat or Self-Reliant India initiative was announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to pull the country out of the economic distress induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. A Rs 20-Lakh Crore stimulus package was announced as part of the initiative.

CP Gurnani, MD and CEO, Tech Mahindra said: “Atma Nirbhar Bharat does not mean turning away from international trade. In fact, we want to become the enabler of international trade by taking lead in supply chain. India can adopt and change but we need leadership from the government in making Atma Nirbhar Bharat a reality. I am glad the Modi government has given a clarion call. We need to convert this into a momentum and increase consumption for India to be self-reliant now.”

Rajan Mathews, DG, COAI said: “We have talent and we must monetise our capacity to create value. There is a tremendous amount of opportunity in terms of creating value within the country. We do not invest heavily in R&D and hence have been left behind in the IPR game. We have to incentivise R&D if we want to make Atma Nirbhar Bharat a reality. We must also consider Open Source as a serious business opportunity and become smarter at trade negotiations. There is a need to prioritise two-three specific industries as other countries have done. We must make credit cheaper and get money into the hands of people who can create value. We need to empower start-ups and individuals to develop our capacities.”

Dinesh Tyagi- CEO, CSC e-Governance Services India Limited opined: “Our Village Level Entrepreneurs (VLEs) from various parts of the country are doing wonders and done great work during Covid-19. We have created ICT-enabled rural enterprises in the country. We are working on all the services for rural people towards building empowered and digitally inclusive society. ‘Digital literacy’ through CSCs has emerged as a ray of hope for the life of villagers. For those who are unable to earn their livelihood and are dependent, digital literacy has proved to be a boon by empowering them to be self-dependent. These life-changing transformations are being executed by the VLEs of Common Services Centres across rural swaths of India, transforming it into a digitally inclusive and empowered society.

Our VLEs are working as DBT: Digital Doctor, Digital Banker and Digital Teacher. CSC e-Grameen stores are being operated by one lakh VLEs. We procure the material locally and supply it to local community Kisan eMart. A farmer can directly sell to consumers. Farmers are being empowered through various initiatives of CSC. With the help of technology, we are building Atam Nirbhar Bharat. It talks about the empowerment of communities through CSCs.”