'The more imports you rely on...': Capitalmind CEO backs self-reliance, says India should make for India

Capitalmind CEO Deepak Shenoy on Wednesday made a strong case for India's self-reliance, warning that relying too much on imports limits the country’s ability to improve its own production capabilities. “This is why India should make for India. Because the more imports you rely on, the less you get in knowledge of how those things are made. And then, you don't get the equivalent of a hallway conversation on how to make it better, even if it's for you,” Shenoy wrote on X.

His remarks come amid a broader debate on globalisation, sparked by US Vice President JD Vance’s speech, where he criticised the West’s past assumptions about manufacturing and innovation. “There were two conceits that our leadership class had when it came to globalisation,” Vance said, adding that the idea that rich countries could focus only on design while outsourcing manufacturing had backfired.

Vance pointed out that countries handling manufacturing not only got better at making products but also started excelling at designing them. The West, he argued, had underestimated the network effects of manufacturing. “The firms that design products work with firms that manufacture. They share intellectual property, they share best practices, and they even sometimes share critical employees,” he noted.

"We assume that other nations would always trail us in the value chain but it turns out that as they got better at the low end of the value chain they also started catching up on the higher end. we were squeezed from both ends, " Vance said. 

The second major flaw, according to Vance, was the overreliance on cheap labor, which he likened to an addiction that discouraged true innovation. “Cheap labor became the drug of Western economies...Companies innovating in the absence of cheap labor is a good thing,” he said, suggesting that when businesses are forced to pay higher wages, they focus more on automation and efficiency.

Backing Shenoy’s stance, investor Advait Arora stressed the economic advantages of domestic production. “Yes, I second you! India must make for India because imports drain money & keep us from improving. Making things at home gives us control & on the other hand, imports make us dependent on others. Local production strengthens our economy & also our future! 100%,” Arora wrote.