{"id":132382,"date":"2026-11-10T12:39:02","date_gmt":"2026-11-10T07:09:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/?p=132382"},"modified":"2026-11-10T12:39:02","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T07:09:02","slug":"indias-indigenisation-drive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/indias-indigenisation-drive\/","title":{"rendered":"India\u2019s Indigenisation Drive: 100 Critical Items and Import Dependence"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><b>India\u2019s Indigenisation Drive Latest News<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amid China\u2019s proposed export curbs on critical capital goods and technologies, India\u2019s Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT) has launched a fresh drive to <\/span><b>indigenise 100 critical items<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> spanning intermediates and capital goods across sectors.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">This push reflects India\u2019s strategy to reduce import dependence and build supply-chain resilience amid rising global trade tensions.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Background: China\u2019s Export Curbs<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">China\u2019s Ministry of Commerce is set to introduce an export licensing regime from November 2026 <\/span><b>covering capital goods<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> used in solar equipment and heavy machinery, including <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/chinas-tbm-export-curbs-impact-on-indias-infrastructure\/\" target=\"_blank\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">tunnel boring machines (TBMs)<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In response, India has:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Set up a TBM manufacturing plant in Tamil Nadu, with production expected to begin soon.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Advanced plans to indigenise select petrochemical products, partly driven by the West Asia crisis.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Begun preparing guidelines for solar module waste recycling, following stakeholder consultations by the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Solar Manufacturing: A Capacity Gap<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s solar value chain runs from <\/span><b>polysilicon \u2192 ingots \u2192 wafers \u2192 cells \u2192 modules<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, but capacity is uneven across this chain:<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Module manufacturing<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: ~233 GW annual capacity \u2014 robust.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Solar cell manufacturing<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: only ~30 GW \u2014 far behind, despite India adding ~50 GW of solar capacity annually.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><b>Ingot and wafer manufacturing<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">: just ~2 GW installed \u2014 the weakest link, heavily import-dependent.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Industry voices note a silver lining: companies with completed <\/span><b>cell capacity expansion<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> have limited exposure to China\u2019s new technology-import curbs, since restrictions mainly target capital goods and technology for new plants.\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, sourcing equipment from alternatives like <\/span><b>Europe or Japan<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> could raise costs by 20-40%, given limited availability and higher technology costs outside China.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Petrochemicals: Reducing Import Reliance<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The government is prioritising domestic production of key petrochemicals \u2014 PVC, polyethylene (LDPE\/LLDPE), polypropylene, polystyrene, and ABS \u2014 critical for packaging, pipes, containers, and consumer goods.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Other targeted high-value imports include phosphoric acid, ammonia, acetic acid, and toluene (used in agriculture, food, and industrial manufacturing), along with plastics like polycarbonates and propylene copolymers (used in automotive, packaging, and medical devices).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">In August 2026, the Commerce and Industry Ministry imposed a Minimum Import Price (MIP) of $0.766\/kg on PVC Suspension Resin to protect domestic producers.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><b>Industry Response<\/b><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Adani Group is entering the PVC sector via Mundra Petrochem Ltd in Gujarat.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Reliance Industries, which controls 51% of domestic PVC manufacturing, plans to expand capacity to 1.5 MMT\/annum by 2026-27.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>The Larger Trade Imbalance with China<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s trade deficit with China has crossed $100 billion this fiscal year, despite record-pace anti-dumping measures on Chinese goods.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">China\u2019s global trade surplus hit $1.2 trillion in 2025 and is expected to exceed $1 trillion again in 2026.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"1\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">A Rhodium Group report notes that China\u2019s rising export share comes at the cost of other economies:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">By 2030, the US is projected to lose 1.2 percentage points of global trade share; Indonesia (0.8pp), Canada (0.5pp), Germany (0.4pp), Netherlands (0.4pp).<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400;\" aria-level=\"2\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Rest of the world combined: a 4.6pp loss \u2014 matching China\u2019s estimated 8pp gain.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">India\u2019s indigenisation push for 100 critical items signals a strategic shift from reactive trade defence to proactive self-reliance, particularly in sectors where China dominates global supply chains.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">While progress is visible in solar cell capacity and PVC manufacturing, persistent gaps \u2014 especially in ingot-wafer production and dependence on Chinese capital goods and technology \u2014 mean India\u2019s path to genuine supply-chain resilience will require sustained investment, policy support, and time, even as rising global trade tensions make this transition increasingly urgent.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><b>Source:<\/b> <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/indianexpress.com\/article\/explained\/explained-economics\/chemical-to-capital-goods-india-100-10954928\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">IE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>India\u2019s indigenisation drive targets 100 critical items to reduce import dependence, strengthen domestic manufacturing and build resilient supply chains.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":132420,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[11396,60,22,59],"class_list":["post-132382","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-upsc-mains-current-affairs","tag-indias-indigenisation-drive","tag-mains-articles","tag-upsc-current-affairs","tag-upsc-mains-current-affairs","no-featured-image-padding"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132382","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=132382"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132382\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":132462,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/132382\/revisions\/132462"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/132420"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=132382"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=132382"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/vajiramandravi.com\/current-affairs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=132382"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}