The Indian economy is at a crossroads as, amid concerns of slowdown and a declining equity market, the great subcontinent's force is looking to explore and tap into avenues of greater growth.
Lesson From China For India
One of the focuses has been industrialization and the relative under-industrialised nature of the Indian economy, especially when compared to its regional rival and neighbour, China.
So, is there anything Indian can learn from its Chinese neighbours?
Yes, at least that is the opinion some observers hold. Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu is one of those.
In a post on X, he enumerated the reasons for the same.
Needs For Phase 2
According to Vembu, India must study China closely. "We must study China closely. There is a lot to learn from their experience, which I categorise into two distinct phases", he said.
I have bookmarked this tweet on China's overlapping tech-indistrial ecosystems.
— Sridhar Vembu (@svembu) February 28, 2025
We must study China closely. There is a lot to learn from their experience which I categorise into two distinct phases.
1. At the entry level, India must make its own household goods (all the stuff… https://t.co/yDAKtgK1Ps
Talking about the purported phase 1, Vembu said, "At the entry level, India must make its own household goods (all the stuff we buy in local stores in small towns), and spread those small and mid-sized factories to every district of India."
He also thinks that It is not that hard and it can work out cheaper to make and sell *locally* than to import from far away."
In order to attain higher yield, Vembu proposes the need for a supposed 'phase 2'.
He laid emphasis on strong strategic industrial R&D, especially in the tech sector, that has immense potential.
China, according to Vembu, started with Phase 1 over 40 years ago and now has mastered Phase 2 in the past 10-15 years.
Adapting From the Asian Giant
Concluding his remark, Vembu further added, "Even if global markets are not so favorable to export driven growth anymore, India's domestic market can power our own growth and job creation. That is far more balanced growth anyway. Let's learn from China and adapt the ideas to India."
Vembu was reacting to another post that explained China's growth through a Venn Diagram, which displayed the progress of Chinese companies in various sectors, including Batteries, Lidar, Drones, Autonomous vehicles, Electric vehicles, Industrial robots, Humanoid robots, Smartphones and Semiconductors.