Complying with Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'vocal for local' call, leading consumer products companies such as Hindustan Unilever, Dabur and Godrej have started sourcing raw materials locally. The companies plan to either reduce or completely stop importing materials from China.
"We are developing local sources for these imports. Since the world supplies are dominated by China, it will take some time for alternates to develop," said Sunil Kataria, CEO - India and SAARC at Godrej Consumer Products Ltd, as per a report in The Economic Times.
Consumer goods major Hindustan Unilever in July said that it was looking for alternatives to China for sourcing raw material and packaging material.
"We do have imports from China worth Rs 429 crore, including raw material and part packing material. And we have an absolutely clear strategy, and have started working on what would be the possible alternatives," HUL Chairman, Sanjiv Mehta had said during the AGM.
Meanwhile, Dabur India has also started the process of identifying local substitutes.
“China accounts for under 1 percent of our raw material and packing material procurement, and action has already been initiated for their replacement," Mohit Malhotra, CEO of Dabur India said, as per the ET report.
China is India's second-biggest trading partner, with trade worth $87 billion in the fiscal year ending March 2019, and a trade deficit of $53.57 billion in China's favour, the widest India has with any country. To put it in perspective, China constitutes 9 percent of India’s total export and 18 percent of total merchandise imports.
PM Modi, in his address to the nation on May 12, announced a push for locally-manufactured products.
Moreover, there have been calls to boycott Chinese products and after the Galwan Valley standoff in which 20 Indian Army personnel, including a colonel, were killed in a fierce clash with Chinese troops. It was the biggest military confrontation in over five decades that has significantly escalated the already volatile border standoff in the region.
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