I am fed up by this “Make in India/Made in India/ X in India” brouhaha. It’s nonsense. Its proponents seem to be living in medieval world, trying to preach Stone Age concepts.
First my favorite question:
WHY is Make in India important? Is it to attract capital investments? Is it to generate employment? Is it to help balance or payments? Is it all of the above?
Each WHY has a unique treatment. But first, let’s start with the basics:
Consumers don’t care
I have been using an iPhone for the past 5 years and I’m really not bothered about where it is made. It could have been made in Jhumri Telaiya for all I care (The place really exists).
Let me ask you – did you NOT buy your Nike or Adidas or Reebok because they were made in a country that you did not approve of? Oh, or do you wear only Kolhapuri Chappals to work and conferences because they are “Made in India”?
For the record – the past 7 pairs of Nike shoes I have worn (over 20 years), have been made across 7 different countries.
I am writing this article on a MacBook Air. I have no clue (or interest) in where it is made. The same goes for my Levis Jeans, Gap T-Shirts & Tommy Hilfiger Shirts.
Consumers ONLY care about Brands. As an article in the Financial Times (FT) revealed a few years ago, “Brands are the new Gods”. Brands fulfill consumers’ aspirations. Where they are made is not important.
Business does care!
Doing business in a country matters. The fact that China has become the world’s backyard for manufacturing all things has immensely helped that Country’s GDP and growth.
So how did China achieve this?
First let’s examine Japan:
If you have really old grandparents, ask them what “Made in Japan” meant just after World War II. They will tell you that it meant ‘junk’. Japan had one of the world’s worst reputations of producing things. Today, we absolutely love things Japanese (made in Japan or not).
How did Japan achieve this amazing transformation?
It worked on its processes, its manufacturing practices, its people’s skill sets, etc. I don’t want to dive into the business of Kaizen and all things that are legendary about Japan. Did Japan go out and play the tabla to “Make in Japan”? No. They did not. They quietly transformed THEMSELVES, made products that delighted the world (Walkman, Sony TVs) and lo and behold, Japan became the Gold Standard of “Make in/Made in.”
China’s approach was different. It used its brute labour force and almost hard Nazi like Government rules to force discipline and competiveness. If Nike and iPhone often get reprimanded for ‘Labour Abuse’ in their contractor factories, you can imagine what the other lesser known brands must be doing. I recently read a report of an electronics assembly factory in China that employed young girls for their perfect eyesight – the girls were fed food, made to stay in very cramped dormitories and given sub optimal wages. The day they developed a “number” (eyesight defect), they were kicked out of their jobs.
So, what’s the point?
China, Japan and all other industrialised nations leveraged their inner strengths and proved themselves in the world by their goods, services, costs. Then the world came rushing in.
If we have such an ambition for India, then let’s actually work on a manufactured, globally relevant and scaled product and invite companies in that DOMAIN to come rushing in. What is that one product we manufacture in the world better than anybody else? Can someone tell me?
For a moment, consider countries that approached the problem alternatively.
Do you know that more tourists visit the Louvre Museum in a year that the number of tourists that COME TO INDIA??!!
Isn’t the Taj Mahal “Made in India”? Don’t you personally think it’s more attractive than the artificially made Eiffel Tower? Then why does this “Wonder of the World” not receive any traction of tourists that would do justice to its beauty?
There is a yet another level of leverage of “Made in X”.
Consider the Middle East. They own oil. It’s their inheritance. So, while most of the Arab Countries have happily let the Global Oil Majors come and exploit their natural reserves (one can safely say ‘Crude Oil in Barrels’ is made in the ME), a country like Dubai goes beyond that.
Dubai allows hassle-free imports and exports, zero income tax and an environment of trade and commerce that is unparalled in the world other than, probably Singapore. What does Dubai offer? A “Make your Business Life EASY in Dubai” proposition.
We own amazing heritage and legacy in terms of what drives tourists crazy. Why don’t we make that a business 100x bigger than software? Or is it NOT SEXY to say, “I am here to promote that Jaisalmer Fort. It’s prettier than a silly shipwreck-turned-museum in Stockholm and you should come to India to see it?”
Back to India.
Rather than going out and spraying and praying, we should first introspect.
Big Mighty and Professional Ratan Tata could not set up his Nano factory in Bengal (‘Kicked out of Bengal’ is the tagline) so we should be really cautious about making promises that we cannot keep to the outside world.
Software in the early ‘80s was Body Shopping. That was “Made by an Indian”. As Infy and the rest began to scale, we created humungous success in keeping people at home and writing software. That is “Make in India”. Now, we have software as products, services companies like Cognizant that get paid in ROI of their clients, etc and the Internet Mobile boom. This is really the “Created by an Indian” theme.
In all his flying trips, did NaMo promote Tourism? Did he tell Facebook to have their next Townhall in Jaipur? Why can’t Sundar Pichai come and do his next All Hands Google Meet in Mahabalipuram? Why are we ignoring the “EXISTS in India” theme?
Finally, it’s about the mind. It’s about “Thought in India”. We have to change the way we think and that is only by exposure. NaMo must NOT take selfie-junkies with him on his next trip abroad – he must take the 3rd and 4th tier of Babus and Govt. officials to really SEE what the world outside is up to. Sometimes it’s just the exposure that matters.
A colleague told me that in a small town near London, the local Municipality was very upset that the flowers laid out in the Town Square were all similar colours and that was not delightful enough for its town residents. They promised to plant new flowers the next season. How I wish someone from the BMC in Mumbai could be taken to this town. That is the job of our politicians and bureaucrats.
The world is super-competitive and super-efficient today. Let’s not say silly things that sound like 3rd world brand taglines. Instead, let’s laser target what we do well (or own) and sell that like never before.
Here is a simple live chart of other countries and their business success that would be worthwhile to study to make our Indian Dream come true:
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