“The Atmanirbhar Bharat policy will fortify India’s economy by capitalizing its internal strengths. It will foster innovation and entrepreneurship and not protectionism”, says Shri SK Narvar, Chairman, Capital India Corp.

Over the last few months, there has been a lot of debate around the seemingly protectionist stance of the Atmanirbhar Bharat policy. Your views?

Atmanirbhar Bharat is a call to foster entrepreneurship and not protectionism. To set a context, I find this quote by David McCord Wright, the author of ‘Open secret of economic growth’ very relevant, “The fundamental factors making for economic growth are non-economic and non-materialistic in character. It is the spirit itself that builds the body.” This is the essence of the Atmanirbhar BharatAbhiyaan. The policy will fortify India’s economy by capitalizing its internal strengths. It will foster innovation and entrepreneurship based on these factors. This is different from being insular and protectionist, where the government places specific restrictions on international trade for the benefit of a small group of domestic businesses.

Another view is that the Atmanirbhar Bharat package will lead India away from international trade. Would you agree?

I would differ, rather, the policy will foster export opportunities for Indian manufacturers. As our Hon’ble Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in the recent Independence Day speech, self-reliance doesn’t mean that we shut doors on the world. Instead, it is an opportunity for us to alter the terms of engagement to become part of global supply and value chains.

Let me give you an example here and refer to the views of Shri R. S. Sodhi, Managing Director of Amul; Amul was founded by India’s milkman Verghese Kurien. India’s dairy and milk products sector is a USD 100 billion market and is expected to touch USD 300 billion in a decade. Currently, about 100 million rural families earn their livelihood from the industry. Given the sheer size of the industry and our capabilities, we should not encourage any imports in the sector. However, India imports dairy products worth INR 200-300 crores annually and imposes duties worth 30-60% on dairy imports.Value added and specialised milk products adds to the health and nutrition of Indians, especially children and womenfolk.

The Atmanirbhar Bharat policy will support AMUL which is the country’s leading milk producer. For example, it could facilitate exports to the large dairy importing nations, including Russia, Europe, Mexico and China. Presently, these countries do not allow imports from India because of non-tariff barriers. This case was explained by RS Sodhi, Managing Director of Amul recently, and I think it sums up the essence of the policy perfectly. The Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyaan will unshackle restricted sectors and enable them to reach their full potential. Like Amul, every milk producer be it co-operatives or individual diaries should be encouraged to further the dream of India’s milkman.

That’s an interesting observation about unshackling restricted sectors. Could you elaborate?

India’s economic prosperity has been subdued under the weight of archaic policies for many decades. But the last few years have been transformative with the introduction of bold structural reforms. Take, for example, the number of policy changes in the agriculture sector. The introduction of the three ordinances under the ‘One India, One Agri-market,’ will completely overhaul the industry and lead to the upliftment of millions of marginalized farmers. Another sector that has been liberated is the mining sector. The launch of commercial coal mining will provide equal opportunities for all participants and dissuade agencies from placing power in the hands of few or any mining baron. Bringing transparency to a highly regulated sector like mining yet protecting government revenues is a ‘win-win’ for all stakeholders.

What impact will the Atmanirbhar Bharat policyhave on the fintech industry?

Despite being a nascent market, India boasts of the world’s third-largest fintech ecosystem. It has a fintech adoption rate of 87%, which is significantly higher than the global average of 64%. Our fintech innovations are way ahead of any other country, including the developed economies such as the USA and Europe.I believe that Atmanirbhar Bharat policy is a wonderful platform to capitalize our innovation capabilities in the fintech sector and demonstrate them to the world.

At Rapipay, which is the fintech subsidiary of Capital India Finance Limited and one of India’s fastest-growing fintech companies, we are using this opportunity to enable growth for our customers. We recently launched RapiPay Micro ATMs, which enablecustomers to withdraw cash and conduct banking activities at any RapiPay Saathi store in the absence of ATMs. We have been able to install over 25,000 devices within a month of its launch. The RapiPay Micro ATMs are made in India and made for India.We aim to install 5 lakh micro ATMs in the country in the next two years.

However, the universality and ease of its operation make it simple for adaption in other cash-dependent economies. This, I believe, is the essence of the clarion call to ‘Make in India, Make for the World’ by our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi.