A REPORT ON

SELF-RELIANT INDIA MISSION –

OPPORTUNITIES, CHALLENGES AND WAY OUT

Submitted by Enrollment No.

Prachi Das 20BSP1623
Sween Bhatia 20BSP2600
Mandeep Gupta 20BSP1209
Shubham Sengar 20BSP2373
Rahul 20BSP3310
Akash Dharmale 20BSP0139
Under the Guidance of
Professor Reenu Kalani
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

Sr. No. Topics Page No.

1 Introduction 1

2 Literature Review 2

3 Methodology 3

4 Data Analysis 10

5 Conclusion 13

6 References 14
 INTRODUCTION

The vision of the Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi of creating India a self-reliant nation. The
first mention of this came within the sort of the 'Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan ' or 'Self-Reliant India
Mission' during the announcement of the corona virus pandemic related economic package on 12th
May 2020. He stressed upon the very fact that it's time to become vocal for our local products and
make them global. Under this campaign, a special economic package has been declared by the
government, which will benefit various segments including cottage industry, Micro, Small and
Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), labourers, middle class, and industries, among others. The Ministry of
Electronics and Information Technology and the Atal Innovation Mission (initiative by NITI Aayog)
have launched the Digital India Atmanirbhar Bharat

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 LITERATURE REVIEW

Make in India was launched just after PM Modi came to power in 2014, and the “Self-Reliant
India” package of Rs 20 lakh crore was announced for reviving an ailing economy in the post-
lockdown scenario in the midst of the siege by Covid-19. Make in India was launched to spur
up productivity and employment generation capacity of a fledgling manufacturing sector by
creating a business-friendly environment that will help private investments and foreign
capital. [1]

On the other hand, the “self-reliant” India speech made clear the dual objectives the package
would serve: to resurrect the moribund Indian economy through fiscal measures, and to make
the economy self-reliant.

Both schemes were perceived by many as attempts to insulate the economy from the external
world. There have been opinions expressed against both whether in 2015 or in 2020 by those
who felt that these essentially entailed going back to the old thinking of “import substitution”
in the Nehruvian era. In both cases, this is far away from the truth at least as far as the vision
is concerned. Import substitution entailed using tariff and non-tariff barriers to protect a
nascent domestic industry in the post-independence era. Although in May 2020, Commerce
Minister Nitin Gadkari mentioned that the Centre is mulling over the idea of import
substitution in the wake of the pandemic, the same types of tariff barriers cannot be thought
of in today’s world, unless we have a situation of nationalistic fervours ruling the roost such
as the present geopolitical relation with China.

Rather, Make in India’s vision was to promote foreign investment in India, by making the
nation a favored destination through improvements in its ease of doing business. On the other
hand, the need for self-reliance is going to be realized in the near future. [2]

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 METHODOLOGY

GOVERNMENT INITIATIVES:-
• The Government of India is predicted to take a position highly within the infrastructure
sector, mainly highways, renewable energy, and concrete transport.

• In April 2020, the Government set a target of constructing roads worth Rs 15 lakh crore
(US$ 212.80 billion) in the next two years.

• Indian energy sector is predicted to supply investment opportunities worth US$ 300 billion
over subsequent 10 years.

• NHAI are going to be ready to generate revenue of Rs one lakh crore (US$ 14.31 billion)
from toll and wayside amenities over subsequent five years.

• In the Union Budget 2020-21, the Government has given a massive push to the
infrastructure sector by allocating Rs 1,69,637 crore (US$ 24.27 billion) to develop the
transport infrastructure.

• Communication sector has been allocated Rs 38,637.46 crore (US$ 5.36 billion) to develop
post and telecommunications departments.

• Indian Railways has received an allocation of Rs 72,216 crore (US$ 10.33 billion) under
Union Budget 2020-21.

Primary Sector: 

The measures (reforms to amend ECA, APMC, Contract framing, etc.) announced for the agricultural
and allied sectors are particularly transformative. These reforms are steps towards the One Nation One
Market objective and help India become the food factory of the planet. These would finally help in
achieving the goal of a self-sustainable rural economy. Also, the MGNREGA infusion of Rs 40,000
crore may help in alleviating the distress of migrants when they return to their villages.

Secondary Sector:
Given the importance of MSMEs for Indian economy, the Rs 3lakh crore collateral-
free loan facility for MSMEs under the package will help this finance-starved sector
and thereby provide a kick-start to the dismal state of the economy.

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Also, as the MSME sector is the second largest employment generating sector in India, this step will
help to sustain the labour intensive industries and thereby help in leveraging India’s comparative
advantage.

Additionally, limiting imports of weapons and increasing the limit of foreign direct investment in
defence from 49% to 74% will give a much-needed boost to the production in the Ordnance
Factory Board, while reducing India’s huge defence import bill.

Tertiary Sector:

The government has adopted a balanced approach in addressing concerns

across sectors.

For example:

The newly launched PM e-Vidya programme for multi-mode access to digital online education
provides a uniform learning platform for the whole nation, which shall enable schools and universities
to stream courses online without further loss of teaching hours.

Public expenditure on health are going to be increased by investing in grass root health institutions
and ramping up health and wellness centres in rural and concrete areas.

TECHNOLOGY:
The government has increased the outlay for Digital India program by
23% to Rs 3,958 Crore for 2020-21 compared to the actual allocation in
the current fiscal.

The increase has been mainly on account of incentives to tend for electronic manufacturing, research
and development, development of manpower for the segment, cyber security and promotion of IT and
IT enabled services.

The Government has been taking several initiatives on continuous basis for promotion of electronics
manufacturing within the country to provide an enabling environment for the industry to compete

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globally. Electronics manufacturing is one of the important pillars of the Digital India Program and
the target to achieve net zero imports is a striking demonstration of intent..

VIBRANT DEMOGRAPHY:
One of the Major Pillar of Self-reliant India. Demographic change can influence the
underlying rate of growth of the economy, structural productivity growth, living standards, savings
rates, consumption, and investment; it can influence the long-run percentage and equilibrium interest
rate, housing market trends, and the demand for financial assets India has one of the youngest
populations in an aging world. By 2020, the median age in India are going to be just 28, compared to
37 in China and therefore the US, 45 in Western Europe, and 49 in Japan.

Source: www.investyadnya.in

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INFRASTRUCTURE:
Infrastructure sector may be a key driver for the Indian economy. The
sector is extremely responsible for propelling India’s overall development
and enjoys intense focus from Government for initiating policies which may ensure time-bound
creation of world class infrastructure within the country. Infrastructure sector includes power, bridges,
dams, roads, and concrete infrastructure development. India was ranked 44 out of 167 countries in
World Bank's Logistics Performance Index (LPI) 2018. India ranked second within the 2019 Agility
Emerging Markets Logistics Index.

CHALLENGES:-

• Agriculture: India’s farmers are bound by the shackles of low

productivity, low incomes, lack of access to institutional credit,
indebtedness etc.

• Unemployment: A nation cannot aspire to be self-reliant with a large portion of the working-
class population being unemployed. Informal employment cannot be the answer to the
question of unemployment

• Education: India’s unemployability calls into question the quality of education provided in
our schools and higher education institutions.

• India-China Trade off: The outbreak of the virus and its consequent economic damages and
the recent standoff with China at the Ladakh border have put into sharp focus China-India
bilateral trade, due to India's import dependency in some sectors.

• Lack of Demand: The lockdown has lowered aggregate demand, and a fiscal stimulus is
needed. However, the package, by relying overwhelmingly on credit infusion to boost the
economy, has failed to recognize that investment will pick up only when people across
income segments have money to spend.

• Lack of Backward and Forward Linkages: Unless the rest of the domestic economy is
revived, the MSME sector may face a shortage of demand, and its production may soon
sputter to a close.

• Burgeoning Fiscal Deficit: Government claims that the stimulus package is around 10% of
India’s GDP. However, financing it would be difficult as the government is worried about
containing the fiscal deficit.

• The challenge would encourage Indian application developers and innovators and facilitate
their ideas and products.

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 1. Track-01: Promotion of existing apps.
For the promotion of existing apps and platforms across the categories of e-learning,
work-from-home, gaming, business, entertainment, office utilities and social
networking, the government will provide mentoring, hand-holding and support.
• It will work in mission mode for identifying good quality apps for the leader board
and will be completed in around a month.
2. Track-02: Development of new apps.
• For incubating new apps and platforms, the initiative will work to assist create new
champions in India by providing support in ideation, incubation, prototyping,
rollout, and market access.

OPPORTUNITIES:-

• The digital strike against China; Banning 59 mobile applications including social media
platforms, to counter the threat posed to the sovereignty and security, of the country, is
another step within the direction of Atmanirbhar Bharat.
• The prime minister was prompt in filling up the gap by launching the ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat
Innovation Challenge’, crafted by MeitY and Atal Innovation Mission, for inculcating new
apps and platforms by providing support in ideation, inculcation, prototyping and roll out
alongside market access so as to market homegrown apps and develop new apps in e-learning,
business, work from home, office utilities, entertainment and social networking.
• Boosting scope for personal participation in numerous sectors. Increasing FDI within the
Defense sector.
• Support in many sectors like the solar manufacturers sector.
• Also, emphasizing on migrant workers, several of whom lost their lives while trying to
succeed in their native places during the lockdown. Some even staged protests demanding
transport facility to their homes.

• RBI announced Rs 3.4 lakh crore monetary stimulus

• In May 2020, Government launched PM e-VIDYA, a program for multi-mode access to
digital/online education. Other initiatives to be launched include Manodarpan, New National
Curriculum and Pedagogical framework, National Foundational Literacy and Numeracy
Mission.

• According to Union Budget 2020-21, Government allocated Rs 59,845 crore (US$ 8.56
billion) for Department of School Education and Literacy.

• Revitalizing Infrastructure and Systems in Education (RISE) by 2022 was announced in

Union Budget 2020-21 with a proposed outlay of Rs 3,000 crore (US$ 429.55 million).

• Government promoted new scheme ‘Study in India’ to bring foreign students to higher
educational institutions.

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 • Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Construction Development sector (townships, housing,
built up infrastructure and construction development projects) stood at US$ 25.66 billion
during April 2000 to March 2020, according to Department for Promotion of Industry and
Internal Trade (DPIIT). The logistics sector in India is growing at a CAGR of 10.5 per cent
annually and is predicted to succeed in US$ 215 billion in 2020.

STEPS TO BE TAKEN/ WAY OUT:

• Enhancing Demand: The economic package for the country emerging out of the lockdown
requires a stimulus enhancing demand across the economy.

o The best way for this is to spend on Greenfield infrastructure.

o Infrastructure spending uniquely creates structures that raise productivity and

extends spending power to the section of the population most affected by the
lockdown, namely daily wage labourers.

• Mobilising Finances: For financing of the stimulus package, India’s foreign reserves stand
at an all-time high which could be strategically used to finance its needs.

o The rest may have to come from privatisation, taxation, loans and more
international aid.

• Holistic Reforms: Any stimulus package will fail to reflect the trickle-down effect, until
and unless it is backed by reforms in various sectors.

o Thus, Atmanirbhar plan also encompasses the unfinished agenda of holistic

reforms which may include reforms in Civil services, Education, Skill and Labour,
etc.

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 DATA ANALYSIS

India’s Trade Performance after Independence with respect to other economies

Source: www.data.worldbank.org
From the data above 1960 to 2015 that India GDP is growing which shows that India will overtake
UK. That was true in 2019, India GDP with economic size $2.94 trillion is which overtook UK in
2019 with economy size of $2.83 trillion and became the fifth largest economy in the world.

It is estimated that India’s digital economy has the potential to become a 1 Trillion USD
ecosystem by 2025

Source: www.grandviewresearch.com
As we see the India’ electronic market is emerging we are seeing the steeper increase. It is
gives the chance to entrepreneurs to get in this market and we also see the number of start ups
in led lighting industry. According to the data 134 million mobile phones were sold in the
Indian market.

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Sector Contribution to GDP: Before COVID 19

Source: www.commons.wikimedia.org
From this chart we see that how the service sector is becoming the major contributor to the country
GDP, from the recent example of Reliance Jio the telecomm service provider become giant one in
shorter span. Agriculture sector is declining due to low farm incomes in rural areas arising from low
food prices and also due to the stress in non-banking financial companies.

Sector Contribution to GDP: During COVID 19

Source: www.financialexpress.com
Due to the COVID-19 , govt. put lockdown which shutdown the manufacturing sector.Agriculture
which gain during the COVID-19 due to the factors such venture funding and investments, locusts
attack and the economic stimulus.

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Sector affecting highest FDI Equity Inflow:

Source: www.investyadnya.in
The above PIE chart says that the major Foreign Direct Investment had come to service sector which
contribute largely to the GDP. During the covid lockdown, Reliance Jio raises ₹1.18 lakh crore from
Facebook, Silver Lake, Uber technologies, Qualcomm ventures and many more.

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 CONCLUSION

• For India, self-reliant capabilities in electric and fuel cell vehicles, electricity storage systems,
solar cells and modules, aircraft including UAVs, AI, robotics and automation,
biotech/pharmaceuticals and others are well within its reach.

• State-funded R&D, including in basic research, by PSUs and research institutions and
universities needs to be scaled-up significantly, well above the dismal 1% of GDP currently.

• Upgraded and reoriented PSUs would also be crucial given their distinctive place in the
ecosystem meaningful participation in manufacturing at appropriate levels of the supply
chain.

• India’s meagre public expenditure on education needs to be substantially ramped up (as

against current trends of privatisation which would only shrink access), including in skill
development. No country has achieved self-reliance without mass quality public education.

• The economic crisis triggered by Covid-19 pandemic is much like the 1991 economic crisis,
which was a harbinger of a paradigm shift via liberalization, privatization and globalization.
The post-Covid-19 era may inaugurate unprecedented opportunities provided the
implementation deficit is satisfactorily addressed.

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 REFERENCES

[1] T. Hindu, Frontline, India's National Magazine, 2020.

[2] O. R. Foundation, 4 April 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.orfonline.org/research/the-

dynamics-of-self-reliant-india-69132/.

[3] G. V. Research, March 2019. [Online]. Available:

https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/digital-signage-market.

[4] R. D. Bhawna, “Impact of demographic features on,” Munich Personal RePEc Archive, 2012.

[5] F. D. International, 2 February 20107. [Online]. Available:

https://www.futuredirections.org.au/publication/india-economic-demographic-prospects/.

[6] L. J. Mester, 16 November 2017. [Online]. Available:

https://www.clevelandfed.org/en/newsroom-and-events/speeches/sp-20171116-demographics-
and-their-implications-for-the-economy-and-policy.aspx.

[7] T. S. University, 7 November 2019. [Online]. Available:

https://www.suda.su.se/education/what-is-demography.

[8] E. Times, 5 August 2020. [Online]. Available:

https://government.economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/technology/technology-plays-major-
role-in-achieving-self-reliant-india-mission-union-minister-som-parkash/77371550.

[9] D. Publications, 10 July 2020. [Online]. Available: https://www.drishtiias.com/daily-

updates/daily-news-analysis/digital-india-atmanirbhar-bharat-innovate-challenge.

[10] T. W. -. R. Dixit, “The Week,” Cabinet approves reforms promoting private sector
participation in space, 24 June 2020.

[11] T. E. Times, “Economic Times News,” 15 May 2020. [Online]. Available:

https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/policy/view-the-problems-with-modis-
atmanirbhar-bharat-abhiyan/articleshow/75746607.cms?from=mdr.

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