Page 18 - IMDR JOURNAL 2020-21

IMDR’s Journal of Management Development and Research 2020-21

Aatma Nirbhar India –
Journey to be a Global Power

in Pharma Industry: Case Study
Ms. Aditi S. Barve, Ms. Deepa Naidu

We all have come across a phrase called term? Aatma Nirbhar basically means Self-reliant or
“Swawalamban is Necessary” at some point of Self-sufficient.
time. Our grandparents belived in doing evrything Our Hon. Prime Minister first referred to this term
on their own without bothering any one. Has in his speech related to the global pandemic and he
anyone given a thought on why our grandparents used it in relation to the economic development
did not like the dependency? Because they support of the country. India is developing at a high pace.
SWAWALABAN. What is the connection between To become a self-reliant nation, India should have
this SWAWALAMBAN and AATMA NIRBHARTA? infrastructure to manufacture various products and
Let’s discuss. deliver services. We need to think of the substitutes of
The roots of AATMA NIRBHAR BHARAT go various products and services as well. Aatma Nirbhar
back to the era of INDIAN INDEPENDENCE. Yes, Bharat is where we can think of self-reliance within
you heard it right. It was that time, when Indians various sectors. From non-co-operation movement,
decided to ban imported products. They realised the swadeshi andolan to Aatma Nirbhar Bharat, from
need to produce the goods in our India. It was then importing even the necessities after independence
the necessity. Awareness campaigns were carried out to aiming to become a key player in global supply
to use Swadeshi (Made in Home-country) Products. chain, we can confidently say that our country has
So, this was the situation in India when we were come a long way indeed.
seeking independence from the Britishers. We are Now, we must know which are the sectors in
in a similar situation right now. But the focus is which India has a dependency on other nations? So
different. here is a list – Electronics, Medicine, Pharma, etc.
Around 125 years back, Indian Saint Swami Let’s see how crucial imports are for the country.
Vivekananda during his visit to America visited the Imports to India soared to USD 40.55 billion in
University of Michigan, where he told a group of February of 2021. India majorly imports mineral
journalists “This is your century right now, but 21st fuels, oils and waxes and bituminous substances
century is India’s century”. Our Hon. Prime Minister (27% of total imports); precious stones and jewellery
also stated that this era must belong to India. Our (14 %); electrical machinery and equipment (10 %);
Government is also trying to make India – a self- mechanical appliances (8 %); and organic chemicals
reliant nation. But there arises a bigger question (4 %). India’s major import partners are: China (16
– Are we – the citizens of India willing to be self- %), the United States (6 %), United Arab Emirates
reliant? (6 %), Saudi Arabia (5 %) and Switzerland (5 %).
When we talk about independence era, we Equipment such as smartphones and computers
can say that it was the time when we wanted are a key part of import bill of India. India mostly
independence from British Rule and now is the time; imports the basic material or components used to
we look forward to have independence from our free make them. India’s contribution is just to assemble
Dependence Attitudes. Yes… We have become so the product or products. For example, according to
dependent on other country products that we have the Confederation of Indian Industry around 88 per
almost forgotten our capability to produce the same cent of the components used by the mobile handsets
things in India. Corona (Covid-19) was in a way an industry are imported from countries like China.
eye-opener. The global pandemic made everyone India also has major imports of medical devices.
introspect on our production as well as overall Another major sector which relies on imports is
capabilities. This situation made every nation think pharmaceuticals. India is capable of preparation
about the self-reliance. India being no exception to of finished products and also has some local
this! And Aatma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan is the manufacturers for key ingredients. But that is not
result… Now,what exactly is the meaning of this enough. The industry is still dependent upon imports

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