Atmanirbhar Bharat’ or the policy of self-reliance is neither “isolationism” nor “protectionism” – Nirmala Sitharaman, Finance Minister

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‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ or the policy of self-reliance is neither “isolationism” nor “protectionism” but is a recognition of the fact that India must raise its manufacturing share of GDP, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said .

As per report by PTI, Addressing a gathering at the prestigious Brookings Institute think-tank, Sitharaman said India has not de-industrialised prematurely. It did not industrialise enough because infrastructure and connectivity that enable industrialisation of hinterland was lacking.

“That is what we have addressed in the last eight years,” she said in reference to the ambitious ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ project of the Modi government.

Sitharaman said ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ “is misunderstood as isolationism or protectionism. It is neither. It is a recognition of the fact that India must raise its manufacturing share of GDP for it generates employment both for the skilled and semiskilled”.

The policy, she said, boosts the construction sector that provides incomes for the unskilled too.

Roads and highway construction have been ramped up. Ports and rail network have been strengthened. The ramping up of the government’s capital expenditure was meant to provide the infrastructure platform for the private sector to create global manufacturing capacity, the minister said.

On global supply chain, the minister said, “Global growth and trade are interconnected. For trade to support the growth in the new world order, we need goods and service supply chains to run inevitably across borders.”

Sitharaman said the Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) Scheme is about creating global capacity locally. “It seeks to plug India into the global value chain while providing a measure of supply-chain resilience to us,” she said.