Import Trade restrictions and Make in India-Atmanirbhar!

 Import Trade wall or barriers are not new to India. The country had very steep walls in terms of Tariffs, licensing ,quotas etc. all in the name of safeguarding the domestic industry. When the country gained independence, many of the industries were either nascent or anemic and in order to restore their health, Central Govt had no option but to erect some import restrictions so that local industries in the economy are nurtured. This grooming of domestic industry with level playing field took a new turn in the late 1960s and 1970s with widespread nationalisation of private enterprises, ushering in an era of erratic socialism all in the name of protecting the citizens from private profiteering.

This concept led to erecting walls within the country between the commanding heights of Govt. undertakings and the Private enterprises. The private sector was neglected and was left to fend for itself and scaling up an enterprise became a uphill challenge for private sector. Inorder to protect them from imports from manufacturing bases around the world with deep pockets several safeguard duties and tariff walls were made stiff .

But all this had a negative side effects as the local industry became flabby, lethargic,self seeking, ignoring Tech.upgradation, without stiff market competition on Quality , Cost and Delivery.All this was done with the good intention of making India self restraint through import substitution. But the unintended consequences of this led to high cost of manufacuring and poor quality product.This situation was reversed when GOI started reducing tariffs and import restrictions through some pragmatic steps inviting foreign direct investments in the early 1990s.

By the time we missed the bus and Chinese who started this in 1980s had a clear headstart over us. Our two steps forward and one step backward strategy in all these matters of import policy were designed by bureaucrats with the hidden intent of rent seeking politicians, businessmen and babus behind it.

Only after the advent of Japanese, US ,German and South korean companies started their manufacturing bases in India , Quality, Cost and Delivery gained attention and became the guiding lodetones of enterprises keeping them lean and mean. This tough market competition has helped India in achieving the pinnacle of success in Auto sector especially in becoming World's top two wheeler manufacturing base.

That said , now there is lot of discussion on Govt's announcement of Trade tariffs for imports from China and licesing and ban on import of defence equipments,  high end TVs etc. The heated debate of back to the moribund policy of import restrictions in the name of Make in India- Atmanirbhar Bharat is indeed a good one.  

Does this mean back to the future?

But there can be an argument in terms of supporting this policy of  import restrictions.

When fledgling industry is sought to be setup like in high end tech products, these specific products may require some sort of support or sops for a initial few years. When foreign direct investment is invited for huge sunrise industries, such import walls will be helpful but all but temporarily. If there is a sunset clause introduced for all these tariff or sops or subsidies, it should be welcome. Govt. should make it a point to insert a sunset clause for all these import walls except in very few strategic sectors which may not exceed five on the whole.Govt should not give an impression that it is interested in augmenting its tax revenue through these high import duties.

India has given a great fillip to Make in India- Atmanirbhar in some of the industries like Auto, Smartphones etc which has generated huge employment opportunities in the country. Inorder to give a temporary boost to this policy, Govt has done the right thing by introducing few Tariff walls in order to promote the above stated policy  and these Tariff barriers should neither be seen as a way of revenue rising, nor as a permanent fixture to protect the domestic industry.

EIA 2020 draft is good and what should we be careful about?

What do we know about EIA draft 2020? But even before we read it, we want to register our opposition to the draft. Does this attitude not reek of cynicism.

Former UPA minister Mr.jairam Ramesh shot out a letter to Minister for Environment in Central govt,Mr.Prakash Javadekar saying that draft EIA allows post facto approvals going against the principle of assessment before projects are put up.

There are some fundamental flaws in the assumptions behind the accusations against the draft.

1)Under the current EIA everything is hunky dory and the revised draft now is going to spell doom to the environment. For that, they are side by side quoting that LG Polymers gas leak disaster saying that this project has not obtained EIA clearances for the project still. These people, conveniently forgetting that this project has been put up as per current guidelines and not under the draft now presented, quote LG Polymer as an example of a violation of Environment Act. If the project had come up under the current guidelines it shows that the present system is far from perfect and not the draft EIA which is yet to be implemented.

2)The current regime encourages a lot of bureaucratic hurdles and "environment tax" on industry due to discretionary powers wielded by the govt agencies, NGOs and other vested interests. The influential private citizens hold the industry to ransom raising any number of objections and many a time it becomes a political battle using the corporate turf. The victims are corporate and the employed and finally the country.

3)Are we going by unbiased third party audits for EIA compliance before approving any mega projects. Whenever people's opinions are called for, most of the time the opposition parties jump in to settle their petty disputes and for scoring some political brownie points.Even after the matter is heard and resolved by NGT, and PCBs , local people are fed concocted news by urban naxals in the garb of NGOs through carefully planted stories in the gullible media inorder to arouse their passions and to rake up riots against the projects.In all this, the central point of Environment Impact assessment is the casualty. There are impartial National and International agencies who can give unbiased assessment reports and the country should make engaging them for assessment necessary, if not madatory.

4) Are we not unwittingly not believing any Govt agency even if the truth is told- immediately jumping to conclusion that the Corporates have bribed these Govt. agencies to talk in favour of them. We have become totally cynical of this system and we want to throw the baby with the bathwater.

5)Any development can happen only in the existing land.People must understand where they live today as their house and apartments all stand on land which was once thriving agricultural fields. Britishers pushed the development agenda by forcibly taking up the land and today our own Govt acquires these lands by paying up the agreed market price.Why are we then raising our hands against our own development. Is there any gain without pain?

6) People must understand, if they raise objections to any of these acquisitions, then where new roads, railroads etc can be laid?If our grandparents had raised such objections , whether today's existing Indian railways or National highways would have come up? or whether we could have enjoyed criss crossing the country happily riding on these infra facilities?

7) All those who raise these objections are still at liberty to approach the Courts seeking justice. Nothing or nobody is stopping them from reaching to the Courts.Instead if they want to do road roko or rail roko or cause obstruction to others in general, then their actions are anti social and anti national only. Such people are hell bent on scuttling India's development and prosperity and are playing into the hands of India's enemies.

My appeal to the common man is not to fall for the words of those who want to subvert India's growth using sophisticated wordplay and methods, as part of their selfish partisan and hidden agenda at the behest of our enemy nations.