FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2024
Following escalation of border tensions between India and China and call by Prime Minister Modi to make India self reliant or ‘Atmanirbhar’, people in India, which includes Goa have started to ask the retailers whether the goods which they are purchasing are made in China or not. In fact, the Goa, state BJP president Sadanand Shet Tanavade said on June 2 this year that the Chinese products should be boycotted and banned and he urged people to buy Indian goods.
Ladhakh-based, Engineer-turned-education reformer Sonam Wangchuk on whom the Bollywood film ‘3 Idiots’ was made, posted a message on Twitter that went viral on the platform — ‘Cheen ko Jawaab, Sena degi bullet se, Naagrik dengey wallet se’ (Answer to China will be given by soldiers with their bullets and by citizens with their wallets). He urged Indians to boycott made in China goods, arguing that the Chinese will feel the pinch harder on ‘their wallet’ than on the border ‘with bullets’.
Wangchuk asked people to drop the use of Chinese software ‘within a week’, like the video-sharing platform Tik Tok. He added Indians have the freedom to choose what they spend on and if a country does not treat India fairly then they should use boycotts as ‘personal economic sanctions’. Many celebrities and influencers have also joined Wangchuk’s movement by deleting Chinese applications or giving up products made in China.
Former president of the Goa Chambers of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), Sandip Bhandare believes that in its quest to reduce India's dependency on China, the Indian Government has banned 59 Chinese apps and have asked e-commerce companies to display the country of origin on their products listed on the websites. This is just the first step of the government's larger initiative of Atmanirbhar Bharat or self reliant India.
“I fully support the Prime Ministers call and his thrust on vocal for local. Many heavyweights such as JSW Group, Anand Mahindra and Sonam Wangchuk believe that India will rise to the occasion and have also set realistic timelines as to when India could be ‘independent’ from Chinese products. We need to remember that the reason that India imports from China is because their rates are simply too competitive. India Inc would have to go back to the drawing board to review their entire business cycle, and invest in technology, labour and other resources in a phased manner. It is only single minded and unwavering focus that can achieve our goal of being self reliant,” said Sandip Bhandare.
After calling celebrities to support its boycott Chinese goods campaign under its nationwide ongoing campaign ‘Bhartiya Saamaan-Hamara Abhiman’, the Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) on June 21 in a communication sent to Chief Ministers of all states urged them to lead the campaign to boycott Chinese products by issuing support appeal.
“At a time when the entire nation is boiling against China for its barbaric act against Indian soldiers, it is expected that the campaign should be widely supported by one and all and prompted by such intention, the CAIT urges you to support boycott Chinese goods campaign,” said CAIT in its communication to Chief Ministers of all States.
It is to be noted that the CAIT has earlier asked film and cricket Stars to stop endorsing Chinese brands and the first one to respond to CAIT appeal is cricket star Harbhajan Singh. The appeal of CAIT is getting widespread support from all corners of the country,” said Secretary General of CAIT Praveen Khandelwal to the Herald.
President of Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology (MAIT), Nitin Kunkoleinker believes that before 2000, India was emerging as one of the electronic manufacturing destinations. HCL, Zenith Computers, Wipro were household names, but they relied heavily on arbitrage.
“Once tariff and custom duty became zero, the sector collapsed and China rushed in to fill our needs. As calls to reduce dependency on China increases, it is time to create new Indian manufacturing giants. However, to manufacture in India we need to have infrastructure with an ease of doing business. We need to manufacture components with incentives and support. Along with that we must create value chain here in India and only then we can be a player in global competitive scenario. We have to ideate on export-led growth,” said Kunkoleinker.
Closer home in Goa, according to the retailers in different segments, whether it is a business of white goods, mobile, electronics or toys, about 30 per cent of the customers have started to ask question – ‘Is it made in China?’
Hari Kaul, chairman of the Retail Trade Committee of GCCI is of the view that India exports worth $16 billion to China and India imports good worth $62 billion from China and the trade deficit is around $42 billion. In 2018 the trade deficit was $76 billion but it has been brought down to $42 billion this year, which means Indian government has taken several measures to start manufacturing within India and dependence on China is reducing.
“Majority of the components whether it is for a car, mobile, electronics or anything is coming from China. It is now very difficult to avoid any Chinese product. Now this is a journey and it will take at least 5-10 years to make ourselves close to being self-sufficient. In fact we can cut-down on what we really do not require and gradually we can do manufacturing of certain products which actually can be done in India. Prime Minister vision is very clear and we can achieve it in next five-ten years. Right now people look for cheaper goods with quality and to achieve that we in India will take some more time,” said Kaul.
Rohit Mehta, proprietor of Solar Enterprises which deals in white goods is of the opinion that the sales are normal. “People do ask about the product origin but when price comes into the equation, it rules. Many of the products in white goods will have Chinese components and one cannot avoid buying anything which is Chinese,” said Mehta.
Vrida Tavora, proprietor of Walkover believes that boycotting Chinese goods had also emerged in the past and before COVID-19 but it is not a solution. “If one wants to boycott Chinese goods then why are imports from China allowed in India? That will be the real boycott. If you supply in the market and it is cheaper in price and better in quality, people will buy it. These are tough times and this is not easy times for retailers and putting pressure on retail would not go well in the long run,” said Vrida Tavora.
