Govt targeting import substitution for 100 products to improve self-reliance

The commerce ministry also expanding its focus to top 50 nations that import Indian goods through mobilisation of missions abroad for export promotion efforts.

In an effort to become increasingly self-reliant, the Commerce Ministry is in the process of identifying 100 heavily imported products - including engineering goods, chemicals, pharmaceuticals and plastics - that can be replaced with domestic alternatives as part of an effort to reduce import dependency on certain geographies, Commerce Secretary Sunil Barthwal said on September 15.

“The concept behind it is Swadeshi. We have categorised imports from three different perspectives - how much are raw materials, intermediaries and finished products. And we also looked at the capacities of our industries and then which imports can be replaced due to that,” said Barthwal.

Commerce Secretary said the exercise to identify these products is underway and will involve consultations with ministries as well as with stakeholders from the industry.

“The idea is to see if the industry can improve, raise or create capacity for these goods,” Barthwal said, adding that the aim is to manufacture for India as well as for the world. Barthwal’s comments come at a time when India has been taking steps to intensify the Make in India push, especially in the wake of supply chain bottlenecks and recent trade-related disruptions.

Aside from that, the ministry has also been attempting to fast-track talks for free trade agreements with the likes of the European Union, Oman, New Zealand, Peru and Chile, and is also engaged in negotiations for an agreement with the United States. India’s next round talks for an FTA with the EU will be held in Brussels from October 6-10. Meanwhile, a trade representative from the US will be in New Delhi on Monday night for a one-day talks between Washington and New Delhi over 'trade issues'.

India is also expanding its focus to top 50 nations that import Indian goods through mobilisation of missions abroad for export promotion efforts. This is alongside continued emphasis on 20 countries of significance, making up for more than 60 percent of India’s exports.

India's good exports for August came in at $35.10 billion while imports were to the tune of $61.59 billion.