There are moments when a seemingly small business problem makes you think about a much larger national question.
Recently, I was looking at the rising cost of carbide and its shortages. Tungsten Carbide is an important input in my industry. A significant amount of the material that Indian industries use comes from China, and changes in supply and pricing can quickly find their way into the cost of doing business here.
Carbide may sound like a very specific industrial input. But for me, it represents something much bigger. It makes us ask a simple question: How self-reliant are we really?
We rightly speak about Make in India and Atmanirbhar Bharat. These are important ambitions but I have always believed that slogans can only take us so far. The real test of self-reliance is what happens when global supply chains are disrupted, when geopolitical relationships become complicated, or when the price of a critical raw material suddenly changes.
And this is where we still have work to do. The China question is really a supply-chain question.
China has built enormous manufacturing scale over several decades. Its industrial ecosystem, infrastructure, supply chains and ability to produce at competitive costs have given it a significant advantage.
India cannot change that reality overnight, nor should our objective be to stop doing business with China simply because our relationship has its challenges. Businesses operate in a global economy, and trade relationships are often far more complex than political relationships and should not necessarily be viewed with the same lens.
But there is an important distinction between trading with a country and becoming overly dependent on a country. That distinction matters. We see it in critical minerals and industrial raw materials, pharmaceutical ingredients and semiconductor supply chains.
India has made considerable progress in pharmaceuticals, for example, but we continue to depend significantly on imported APIs and key starting materials, particularly from China. The government itself has recognised this vulnerability and has been working to build domestic capacity.
Similarly, India’s National Critical Mineral Mission is an important step towards developing capabilities across the entire value chain, from exploration and mining to processing and recycling. These are encouraging steps. But the larger opportunity is to think beyond individual schemes.
Self-Reliance Does Not Mean Doing Everything Ourselves
I don’t believe India needs to manufacture every raw material, every component or every product within its borders. That would neither be practical nor desirable.
A strong economy is one that is deeply connected to the world. My own experience of working with businesses across India and international markets has reinforced this belief. My leadership role in the Indo-American Chamber of Commerce has further strengthened my appreciation of the importance of international economic relationships. They bring not just trade, but capital, technology, knowledge, markets and opportunities for businesses on both sides.
I regularly interact with diplomats and business leaders who are keen to promote their country’s interests, products and technologies in India. I welcome that engagement, and I also believe that trade must be bilateral. Strong economic relationships are built not on one side simply selling to the other, but on both sides creating value, investing, partnering and finding opportunities to grow together.
So, self-reliance should not mean isolation. It should mean having enough capability and enough choices that we are not vulnerable because we have only one supplier, one market or one source of technology.
If China is one source, can we develop another? If a critical mineral is imported, can we build domestic processing capabilities? If an important pharmaceutical input is imported, can we encourage Indian companies to manufacture it competitively? If we need foreign capital, can we make India attractive enough that global investors want to build here for the long term?
This is where the conversation needs to move.
The Real Challenge Is Competitiveness
For India to become genuinely self-reliant, we have to make it easier to build and scale businesses here. Capital needs to be accessible. Land and infrastructure need to be easier to navigate. Approvals need to be predictable. Logistics need to become more efficient. Skilled talent needs to be available at scale. And perhaps most importantly, our businesses need an environment where innovation and long-term investment are rewarded.
We should not try to become competitive merely by protecting Indian companies from global competition. We should make Indian companies good enough to compete anywhere in the world. That is a much more ambitious goal and I believe it is achievable.
India has already demonstrated this in several sectors. Our IT and technology services industries have built global businesses. Our pharmaceutical companies have become major suppliers to the world. Our automotive and engineering capabilities are increasingly finding international markets. The next phase should be about moving deeper into the value chain, not simply assembling products or importing components and adding value, but designing, developing, manufacturing and ultimately owning more of the intellectual and industrial capability.
India should aspire to Lead
The world is also changing. Companies today are thinking differently about supply-chain resilience. Geopolitical uncertainty, trade restrictions and disruptions have made businesses realise that efficiency cannot be the only consideration.
Resilience matters too and this presents a tremendous opportunity for India. We have the market. We have the talent. We have an increasingly entrepreneurial business ecosystem. And we have growing relationships with major economies across the world.
And partnerships work best when both sides bring strength to the table. That is why building India’s domestic capabilities is not separate from building international relationships. They are two sides of the same strategy. We should be globally connected, but strategically independent. We should welcome foreign investment, while building Indian capabilities. We should trade with the world, while avoiding excessive dependence on any one country.
And we should aspire not merely to be the world’s next large market, but to become one of the world’s most capable economies.
For me, that is what self-reliance should ultimately mean. Not a rejection of the world, but an India that has the capability, resilience and confidence to engage with the world from a position of strength.
Self-reliance is not about needing nobody. It is about having enough strength that we can choose whom we need.
