This refers to the editorial "No substitutes" (January 21). It is true that competitiveness holds the key in manufacturing. With a view to be self-sufficient and obsessed with restricting imports in the planning era, India had been trying for "import substitutive" products. Now that the contextual transformation puts India in a different league, the country's strategy of 'Make in India' could cover whatever suits the economy as it moves on. Whether 'Make in India' or 'Make for India', they are all for moving ahead of the curve.
As a fast-rising emerging economy, India should be making products as required for consumption, higher technological-orientation, competitive services, exports and even import substitutive products, where comparative advantage dictates it. The main objective is to accelerate the growth processes in industry and agriculture through appropriate innovation. Having had the initial years of development with restricted ideologies, it is time India became 'ideology-neutral'.
K U Mada Mumbai
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