‘V

ocal for Local’ is the new meditation we have got in Prime Minister narendra Modi’s address to the nation on 13th May 2020. While announcing a COVID-19 financial relief package of 20 lakh crore he emphasised nation to be self-reliant, encourage Made in India products and asked companies to be prepared for any future uncertainties like lockdown. “The companies which were local in the past have now become global and it is because the native of that place adopted and promoted those indigenous items”, he said.

“PM has tried to wake up the sleeping giant. It is extremely motivating for the Indian companies. A lot of consumers would look for products built by Indian companies,” said Hari Om Rai, and Managing Director, Lava International Limited.

Cutting across the industries, this call came directly at mobile manufacturing industry in India, which is largely dependent on Chinese, Korean and japanese companies. There’s hardly any home in India in which we could not find products made by these foreign origin companies. But, if he meant to go purely ‘local’ then would not it contradict the motto of Make in India that talks about companies operating here to manufacture their products here? It could be local either by country of origin or place of manufacturing.

“In essence every brand is local in one or the other way. We have many ways of looking at brands. One way is to look at their country of origin; another is how much have they adopted the country they are in. I believe today every smartphone brand is a local brand. There might be brands of Korea, China and other origins, but the fact is they have all been committing to this market and continue to. They are very much local. To my understanding, it is not going to change anything on the ground. If by any chance some make out of it that we should only buy Indian brands, then there is going to be a huge supply issue because effectively Indian brands are extinct except Lava,” said Faisal Kawoosa, Founder and Chief Analyst at techarc.

Faisal argues that we have to be very analytical as how we describe local and he’s quite correct. It’s either by state of origin and its parent company/holding or the local value addition they had done, in terms of innovations, employment and investment. In today’s scenario, there can’t be anything as parasite but we all are global and local at the same time. When the world is a global village then everything in it becomes local.

The COVID-19 has turned the world upside down and there’s no denying that companies are evaluating options to move out of the world’s kitchen, China, and are

looking for other feasible options with better or similar infrastructure such as, tax rebates, concession, labour and land, etc. One very key component to it would be the sea connectivity and India has that advantage. We have land, labour (skilled) and infra to vouch for industries moving out of China, Korea or Vietnam.

“Local ke liye Vocal messaging is not a hark back to import substitution. It means India is going to undertake large-scale reforms to posit itself as the hub for the world,” said Prabhu Ram, Head-industry Intelligence Group, CMR.

Prabhu added, “As global manufacturing supply chains realign and companies look to secure themselves from future disruptions, India is pressing a hard reset and laying out the red carpet to such enterprises.”

It’s a reality that Indian smartphone industry is dominated by Chinese and few South Korean brands. They have invested heavily here into land, R&D and localisation and can’t be ignored overnight. The truth is we do not have such options here in smartphone domain. The erstwhile companies such as Micromax, Karbonn, etc. have vanished from the scene. The only lone survivor is LAVA. And above all, the major smartphone players here like Xiaomi, vivo, Oppo, Oneplus, realme,

Samsung, Motorola and Asus have swear allegiance to government’s call, Make in India, five years ago. Gradually, they have shifted major portions of manufacturing within India, helping local population with employment, local suppliers with ancillaries and government/s as revenue. The smartphone revolution which we feel proud about would not have been possible without these companies and their flagship products.

Hari Om added that, “It would be a very large responsibility on the shoulders of Indian companies to provide equally great products to the Indian consumers, which they get through the multinationals. Otherwise, this great calling will have no meaning.”

For them we are the second largest market outside China and for us, we have to latch on to the opportunities COVID has created for us to become self-reliant. Indian mobile makers have an uphill task in front to match anywhere close to the

R&D of these Chinese and Korean firms. even if they do so, the primary thing they need is acceptance among masses to be worthy enough to be considered as reliable and as a purchase over others.

“India will look at positioning itself in the post-virus world as an attractive hub by ramping-up local mobile manufacturing, with deeper global supply chain linkages and a large domestic market,” said Prabhu.

Government of India has announced a huge stimulus for the industries so it is upto the local companies as how they make good use of this opportunity to their benefits. There is no Indian mobile manufacturer flourishing except LAVA, most of them gave in due to extreme pressure from their Chinese and Korean peers and also because they did not reinvent themselves with changes and demand outside. It’s a fact that we’re outnumbered and surrounded by products made elsewhere and that has to change. Companies should invest more into programmes such as Make in India.

“It is a big thrust to move the wheel of Indian manufacturers. Time for India Inc to buckle up and convert the crisis of Covid into an opportunity,” concluded Hari Om Rai. ■