According to Global Times on August 4, Indian Prime Minister Modi delivered a nationwide speech in Varanasi, once again emphasizing the promotion of "Made in India" and calling on the public to awaken the "spirit of domestic products."

Modi pointed out that the current global economy is full of instability and uncertainty. For India to become the third-largest economy in the world in the coming years, all citizens and social leaders must work together, prioritize the consumption and promotion of local products.

This is not the first time Modi has raised similar slogans.

Since taking office in 2014, he has proposed various mobilization slogans such as "Make in India" and "Self-Reliant India." He almost always emphasizes the "spirit of domestic products" at key occasions each year.

However, after ten years, the share of manufacturing in India's GDP has not significantly increased but instead declined from over 16% to around 15%, and job creation has also seen a significant decrease.

For ordinary Indians, the "spirit of domestic products" has become a cliché.

People generally complain that although it is loudly promoted, Indian-made products still cannot compete with imported goods in the market, and both price and quality are unsatisfactory.

Modi

Modi launched the "Make in India" initiative in 2014, hoping to increase the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25% by 2025 and create a world factory similar to China.

After 2020, he also proposed the slogan of "Self-Reliant India," calling for the country to reduce its reliance on imports.

Under this framework, the Indian government introduced a production-linked incentive program (PLI) worth $23 billion, covering 14 strategic industries including electronics, pharmaceuticals, steel, textiles, and solar energy. The plan aims to attract investments from domestic and foreign giants through financial subsidies to achieve rapid expansion.

Modi himself frequently promotes India to the outside world, claiming that India has a young workforce, a huge domestic market, and a stable policy environment, which fully enable it to become a new pivot point in the global supply chain.

However, the actual situation has not met expectations. According to data from Indian officials and foreign media, the disbursement progress of the PLI program is seriously lagging. By 2024, less than 8% of the funds had been paid out, and the completion rate of output was less than 40%.

The number of manufacturing jobs has nearly halved compared to 2016, and many industry projects have been abandoned or stalled.

MAKE IN INDIA

Why does Modi keep promoting domestic products, yet can't make them sell?

The root cause lies in multiple structural shortcomings in India's manufacturing sector.

First, it is completely at a disadvantage in terms of price and quality. Chinese-made mobile phones, appliances, and textiles are not only 10–30% cheaper in the Indian market but also more stable in quality and better in after-sales service.

In contrast, India's manufacturing lacks a complete industrial chain. Even if local factories produce mobile phones, they rely heavily on Chinese components, leading to no advantage in price and often criticized for quality by consumers.

Moreover, India's institutional environment makes companies hesitant to expand. Once a company grows in scale, it triggers more regulatory and compliance costs. Many factories prefer to remain small to avoid the burden of labor costs and bureaucratic systems.

Another issue is infrastructure. Unstable power supply, low logistics and port efficiency, and outdated railway transportation severely hinder the development of manufacturing, making Indian companies inherently behind in global competition.

Indian Manufacturing

From a geopolitical perspective, the reason why Modi keeps strengthening the "spirit of domestic products" is essentially to turn India into the second China through the rise of manufacturing.

He is well aware that only through a qualitative leap in manufacturing can India gain the same voice as China on the world stage.

But the reality is that the West will not allow India to replicate China's path of rise.

The United States and Europe need India as a pawn in the Indo-Pacific strategy to counterbalance China, but they are also wary of India's potential independent rise.

Although the U.S. publicly courts India, it actually controls India's manufacturing growth space through tariffs, technology restrictions, and investment screening.

Apple and Samsung may build factories in India, but their core components and high-end processes are still controlled by the supply chains in China and Southeast Asia.

In other words, the West allows India to grow, but it absolutely will not allow India to become a true parallel superpower.

The result is that India seems to be rising, but in reality, it cannot become the world's factory and cannot truly escape its dependence on China's supply chain.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7534635668639728155/

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