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Overcoming Dependence

Business Today

BUILT IN INDIA, COURTESY CHINA • Every iPhone assembled in Chennai has a Chinese battery, a Chinese chip. Look at the laptop on your desk or the antibiotic in your medicine cabinet, the odds are that they all passed through China at some point. India’s trade with China has exploded from near-zero in the 90s to $125 billion today but it’s been a one-sided relationship. We almost forgot the part where we sell back. Here’s a look:

THE BUZZ

‘‘Macro fundamentals remain strong amidst global uncertainty” • S. Mahendra Dev, Chairman, EAC-PM, on economic challenges arising from the West Asia war, the need for improvements in manufacturing and cutting import dependence

THE PRICE WE PAY • NOT ALL IMPORTS ARE BAD, BUT IS THE INDIAN ECONOMY DEPENDING TOO HEAVILY ON FOREIGN SHIPMENTS? AND CAN IT CONTINUE TO AFFORD NOT MAKING ENOUGH IN INDIA?

CHAINED TO GOLD • INDIANS HAVE BEEN A MASSIVE CONSUMER OF GOLD JEWELLERY. BUT WITH INDIA DEPENDENT ON IMPORTS FOR 85-90% OF THE GOLD REQUIREMENTS, RISING PRICES ALSO PUT PRESSURE ON THE RUPEE, FOREX RESERVES AND TRADE DEFICIT. INDUSTRY EXPERTS CALL FOR MAKING RECYCLING MORE ATTRACTIVE

FOOD SECURITY’S FOREIGN CRUTCH • WITH APPROPRIATE POLICY RESPONSES, IMPORT DEPENDENCE IN EDIBLE OILS, PULSES AND FERTILISERS CAN BE REVERSED

CHINA INSIDE • INDIA’S DEPENDENCE ON CHINA FOR CRITICAL MINERALS IS GROWING AT A RAPID PACE AS ELECTRIC VEHICLES AND BATTERY ENERGY STORAGE SYSTEMS BECOME MAINSTREAM. CAN IT REMOVE THE CHOKEHOLD?

LONG ROAD TO SILICON • INDIA’S SEMICONDUCTOR AMBITIONS ARE TAKING SHAPE BUT EQUIPMENT, MATERIALS AND TECHNOLOGIES POWERING THEM STILL COME LARGELY FROM ABROAD. CAN INDIA TRULY BE SELF-SUFFICIENT?

BORROWED STACK • BENEATH INDIA’S TECHNOLOGY SUCCESS STORY LIES AN UNCOMFORTABLE REALITY. THE COUNTRY STILL RUNS MUCH OF ITS DIGITAL FUTURE ON A BORROWED STACK. CAN IT CONTROL TECHNOLOGIES THAT UNDERPIN THE DIGITAL ECON OMY?

GREEN GRID, RED FLAGS • INDIA’S SOLAR INSTALLATIONS HAVE MULTIPLIED TENFOLD IN THE PAST DECADE BUT IT’S HEAVILY DEPENDENT ON IMPORTS WITH 98% OF WAFERS AND 100% OF POLYSILICON SOURCED FROM CHINA

BREAKING DOWN THE PETROCHEM DEPENDENCE • The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade has asked the petrochemical industry to urgently respond to the scope for indigenising over 200 highly import-dependent petrochemical items, which cumulatively account for annual imports worth over $50 billion. These are intermediate products used in packaging, construction, automotive, agriculture, textiles, and paints

REFORMING FOR LOWER IMPORTS • Oil & gas supplies were badly hit during the West Asia crisis, making the government focus on ramping up domestic exploration, diversifying the import basket, coal gasification and increasing strategic reserves. Here is a look at the recent policy changes introduced for energy security

UNHEALTHY DEPENDENCE • INDIA EXPORTS PHARMACEUTICALS WORTH $30.5 BILLION ANNUALLY BUT REMAINS HEAVILY DEPENDENT ON CHINA FOR RAW MATERIALS. THIS IS EMERGING AS ONE OF THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES FACING THE COUNTRY’S HEALTHCARE AND MANUFACTURING AMBITIONS

IMPORTED ARSENAL • INDIA CONTINUES TO REMAIN THE WORLD’S SECOND-LARGEST DEFENCE IMPORTER. THE DEPENDENCE IS WORRYINGLY HIGH FOR SOME CRITICAL EQUIPMENT

FOREIGN WINGS • THE WORLD’S THIRD-LARGEST AVIATION MARKET DOES NOT MANUFACTURE A SINGLE COMMERCIAL AIRCRAFT, AN ENGINE, A SIMULATOR, OR THE SOFTWARE THAT BOOKS ITS TICKETS. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS SUGGEST THAT EFFORTS ARE BEING MADE TO OVERTURN THAT PERCEPTION

THE PASSENGER JOURNEYS

HEAVY METAL • THE METALLIC BACKBONE OF...