Citing United States President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address where he exhorted Americans to ‘Make in America’ and rely less on ‘foreign supply chains’, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday said India too ought to be ‘Atmanirbhar’ (self sufficient) and take cognisance of this “global trend.”
“Make more cars and semiconductors in America. More infrastructure and innovation in America. More goods moving faster and cheaper in America. More jobs where you can earn a good living in America. And instead of relying on foreign supply chains, let’s make it in America,” said Mr. Biden on Wednesday.
Mr. Modi was speaking at a webinar to discuss Union Budget allocations for science and information technology and said the budget laid emphasis on “sunrise sectors” such as artificial intelligence, geo-spatial systems, drones, semi-conductors, space technology, genomics, pharmaceuticals and clean technologies to 5G. The budget laid a clear road map for 5G spectrum auction and PLI schemes had been proposed for design-led manufacturing related with a strong 5G eco-system. He asked the private sector to increase its efforts in this area.
‘Maximum use of technology’
“We are familiar with the principles of science, but we have to emphasise on how to make maximum use of technology for the ease of living.” Mr. Modi noted. The global market for gaming was expanding and therefore the Budget had focussed on Animation Visual Effects Gaming (AVGC). India needed to adapt toys to “Indian milieu and needs,” he said.
The Prime Minister exhorted the private sector to take maximum advantage of change of rules for the use of geo-spatial data and the infinite opportunities that had emerged due to the reform. “The world has seen our reliability from our self-sustainability to vaccine production at the time of COVID. We have to replicate this success in every sector”, Mr. Modi said.
Mr. Modi also emphasised the importance of a robust data security framework for the country and asked the gathering for a road map for setting standards and norms for that.
