Food for Thought on 19-Oct-2017:
Chinese Goods: Everyone knows China has flooded Indian Market with its goods. We import 5 times worth of goods from china that of we export [ 2016- Import $58.4 Bn, Export $11.8 Bn ]. Now, the question is: How to reduce Import from China? It has several points to explain. (1) Do we really need those imports? (2) Can’t we produce these good in India? (3) How to reduce dependence on china arising out of the national sentiment? Let me give short and simple answers in the following:
(1) NO, we don’t- but over the years we have become dependent on china for even non critical items, there by jeopardizing our own small time artisans. We must cut down these imports.
(2) We CAN! But again “At what cost?” Today, the situation is that we lack in infrastructure, and productive labour. Even if we set up units to manufacture, the cost of production would be too high to sustain. China has an advantage: it can produce the same product with a very wide range of quality, starting at very low to very high. [ Example: Say a mobile of $10 quality to $1400 quality ]. Everyone knows iPhones are manufactured in China- Imagine if these were manufactured in the USA- these would cost double or more.
(3) We must thrive for (a) reduction
in Chinese import, and (b) enhancement of our own manufacturing facilities on a
long term basis. I know it can’t happen within a few years, but we have to
start as soon as possible. Think it over!
