I’m not an expert on economy or technical terms since I only started taking interest in matters of money when I started working i.e. when I entered the workforce after my graduation, the interest grew as I climbed up the ladder.
Following Write-up is my Opinion, it’s personal and shared publicly. The reader is warned to proceed with caution as it may contain rough language.
After a tsunami of “Aatamnirbhar” memes I think it’s really important to take a deeper look into the subject and see how it is going to play out in the current Global crisis.
Before we go further, We have to agree on the point that there has been vocal support in the favour of local Indian business, both small and large scale, since independence. Please note that the support has only been in speeches, election manifesto, election promises and on papers not much on the ground.
Let’s discuss what it means to support your local business and what challenges would that business face. We will try examples, for example most of us like Pizza and have ordered it from the major brands, and mostly we do not pay attention to the local pizza shop which is just round the corner in the local market. There could be multiple reasons for us neglecting the local pizza shop and paying steep price for to a brand. Some of those reasons are a) pricing, b) choices and c) quality.
Pricing– it has been a pain in the ass for local or Indian brands for a very longtime, if you can remember there was a time before Pepsi and Coca-Cola when Indian brands like Thums-up reigned supreme, however when Coke challenged Thums-up they simply did not have enough capital to fight against a Global giant, neither they had any support from the Government, because governments can never do business or rather they never have business sense. In order to stay relevant the Indian brands will need to price their products which us competitive and sustainable.
Quality– it has always been an area of concern for Indian brands since our own population puts less trust in the local/Indian products, which is surprising since “Made in China” has a reputation for supplying below quality products at dirt cheap rates. The Indian consumer will have to change their habit of choosing quantity over quality.
Choices– let’s agree on this we have seen this during early 90’s before open market era, that Indian companies do not provide range of choices, however with the exposure of 25+ years to global market and it’s effect through the entire length and width of economy, Indian brands will have to not only have to provide quality products at a valid price but also present equally good and competitive alternative choices as well.
As a nation all of us will have to work towards improving our deliverance at all levels. Aatamnirbhar is not just about setting up factories and manufacturing goods it’s also enabling us, the people, to start and provide solutions to the problems that we face in our surroundings, be it related to local pollution of land or abysmal state of our local community parks etc, since we as citizens of this nation has every right to correct what we find out of order. It’s a combined effort it’s not just purchasing from your local shop but giving confidence to the indigenous industry that it matters to us.
