Context: In the backdrop of COVID-19 pandemic, the necessity of self-reliance was emphasised upon by the PM amid calling for improvement in quality and domestic supply chains going forward. 
Current Scenario

• The imminent spark for the need of Self reliance was brought home by the absence of domestic production of personal protective equipment (PPE) when COVID-19 struck.
• Although, India initiated and quickly ramped up PPE production.
• Now, the road to self reliance calls for India to make major course changes in development strategies.
• The world has seen major changes since the self-reliance model of the Nehruvian era.
• So a perspective for Indian self-reliance in science and technology (S&T) and industry in a globalised world is long overdue.

Indian Scenario:

• Self-reliance in state-run heavy industries and strategic sectors in the decades following independence had placed India ahead of most developing countries.
• In the 1970s and 80s, however, India did not modernise these industries to climb higher up the technological ladder.
• The private sector stayed content with near-monopoly conditions in non-core sectors in a protected market.
• Little effort was made to modernise light industries or develop contemporary consumer products.
• The concept of self-reliance was neglected when India embarked on liberalisation, privatisation and globalisation in 1991 as it was believed that advanced technologies could be bought from anywhere at lower costs

The author evaluates the concerns associated with India’s approach are as follows

Lagging behind:

• India’s industrial ecosystem has been characterised by low productivity, poor quality and low technology, and has been globally uncompetitive.
• India completely missed out on the ‘third industrial revolution’ comprising electronic goods, micro-processors, personal computers, mobile phones and decentralised manufacturing and global value chains.
• India still imports large volumes of smartphones, solar photovoltaic cells and modules despite the huge domestic demand conditions.
• The lack of focus on indigenous R&D may have resulted in India lagging behind the U.S., Europe and China in many of the modern technologies.

Neglect of PSUs:

• The public sector undertakings (PSUs) have been inefficient and sluggish for the competitive globalised scenario.
• No efforts have been made to either grant real autonomy to the PSUs or help them transition to new technological directions.

Research and Development:

• Nascent research and development (R&D) efforts (in photovoltaics, semiconductors and advanced materials) have been undermined or abandoned.
• Presently, most R&D in India is conducted by PSUs, and much of the smaller but rising proportion of private sector R&D is by foreign corporations in information technology and biotechnology/pharma.

Private sector:

• The private sector has displayed little interest in heavy industries and has shown no appetite for technology upgradation.
• With entry of foreign corporations, most Indian private companies retreated into technology imports or collaborations.

Fallacy of FDI:

• It is generally believed that inviting foreign direct investment and manufacturing by foreign majors would bring new technologies into India’s industrial ecosystem, avoiding the need for indigenous efforts towards self-reliance.
• However, mere setting up of manufacturing facilities in India is no guarantee of absorption of technologies (the ability to independently take them to higher levels).
• The foreign companies have guarded commercially significant or strategic technologies in off-shore manufacturing bases.

COVID-19 crisis:

• The absence of domestic production of personal protective equipment (PPE) when COVID-19 struck highlighted the drawbacks in India’s approach.
• International experience:
• The experience and achievements in other countries in Asia could act as a guide to India’s actions.

The achievers:

• Countries like Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong took huge technological and industrial strides in the 1970s and 80s.
• South Korea has climbed up the technology ladder and value chains in electronic goods, consumer durables, automobiles, micro-processors, personal computers and heavy machinery. It has emerged as a global powerhouse in manufacturing and also indigenously developed technologies.
• Taiwan developed technologies and manufacturing capacities in robotics and micro-processors, while Singapore and Hong Kong adapted advanced technologies in niche areas.
• China has advanced from low-end mass manufacturing to a dominant role in global supply chains. It is now shifting to advanced manufacturing and has set itself a target of becoming a world leader by 2035 in 5G, supercomputing, Internet of Things, Artificial Intelligence (AI), autonomous vehicles, biotech/pharma and other technologies of the ‘fourth industrial revolution’.
• The self-reliant capabilities were enabled, by planned state investments in R&D including basic research (3-5% of GDP), technology and policy support to private corporations, infrastructure and, importantly, education and skill development (4-6% of GDP).

Laggards:

• Countries like Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia and Vietnam have focused on off-shore manufacturing lower down the value chain and without the thrust on self-reliance.

Road Ahead

• There needs to be improvement in quality and domestic supply chains going forward for which India will have to make major course changes in development strategies.
• Indian self-reliance in science and technology (S&T) and industry in a globalised world is the way forward.

Domestic efforts:

• The key ingredient for self-reliance is the need for resolute indigenous endeavour in R&D, moving away from the reliance on foreign technology induction through FDIs.
• There would be the need for large-scale concerted endeavours across various domains.
• Though India lags behind many countries in niche technologies, yet self-reliant capabilities in electric and fuel cell vehicles, electricity storage systems, solar cells and modules, aircraft including UAVs, AI, robotics and automation, biotech/pharma and others are well within reach.

Role of government:

• Given the disinclination of most of the private sector towards R&D, significant government reinvestment in PSUs and R&D is essential for self-reliance.
• There needs to be significant government reinvestment in public sector undertakings and R&D.
• State-funded R&D, including in basic research, by PSUs and research institutions and universities needs to be scaled-up significantly, well above the current level of 1% of GDP.

Role for private sector:

• Though PSUs would be given their distinctive place in the revamped R&D ecosystem, private sector delivery-oriented R&D could also be supported, linked to meaningful participation in manufacturing at appropriate levels of the supply chain.

Focus on education:

• Given the fact that self-reliance without mass quality public education is not possible, India’s meagre public expenditure on education needs to be substantially ramped up, including in skill development.