NEW DELHI: To drive self-sufficiency, the commerce department is identifying 100-odd products for a local manufacturing push where domestic players depend on imports currently, a top official said Monday.The swadeshi initiative is expected to see products from across sectors – engineering goods, chemicals, plastics and pharma – being identified for possible import substitution. “We have identified around 100 products with large imports that also have large domestic capacity. We want to see if capacity utilisation can be increased and we can reduce dependency on unessential imports,” commerce secretary Sunil Barthwal told reporters here.
He said a preliminary exercise has been undertaken and the list will be firmed up after consultations with other departments and stakeholders. The commerce department is looking at raw material, inputs and finished products and is planning to release the list of products in public domain, along with import levels, so that Indian companies and startups can identify potential areas for domestic production. As part of a four-pronged strategy unveiled last month, govt is also pushing for reducing dependence on import from certain geographies and Barthwal reiterated that on Monday. For several inputs and finished products, such as active pharmaceutical ingredients and electronics, Indian companies are dependent on China – which is a low cost producer often based on subsidies. In last few years, govt has launched several schemes, including production linked incentives, to increase domestic production of mobile phones, electronics, electronic components, white goods and pharmaceuticals. Barthwal said: “We are identifying new products, markets and are now trying to identify new producers.”
