NEW DELHI: Making another strong pitch towards self-reliance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said the “mindset of a free India should be vocal for local” and through the Atmnirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, the country was shifting its focus from ‘Make in India’ to ‘Make for World.’ Addressing the nation on the country’s 74th Independence Day, Modi said “we should appreciate our local products, if we don’t do this then our products will not get the opportunity to do better and will not get encouraged.”
Giving the example of N-95 masks, personal protective equipment and ventilators, he said when the Covid-19 pandemic started India hardly had any production of the items.
But Indian entrepreneurs had responded to the need of the times and they had not only met the domestic demand, but exported them to the world. “India’s share in the world economy should increase for which we have to be self-reliant. We have to move forward with our mantra of ‘Make in India,’ but also with ‘Make for World’.” Modi sought to allay the concerns of economists that India, by resorting to imposing import duties and putting items in the restrictive list, was going back to the pre-1991 era of license-permit raj.
“When we talk about becoming self-reliant, then we do not merely refer to decreasing the import demands,” he said, but stressed that India cannot continue exporting raw material only for them to return as finished products. Modi said while the country was striving for economic growth and self-reliance, development must go hand-in-hand with humanity. “India has always believed that the entire world is one family.” The PM said major global firms were looking at India as a major investment destination, which is reflected in an 18% jump in FDI last financial year.