Be it chips or ships, they must be Made in India: PM Modi in Gujarat

Bhavnagar, September 20 (IANS) Prime Minister Narendra Modi stated on Saturday that India advances with the spirit of 'Vishwabandhu'; however, the dependency on foreign nations poses a significant challenge to the country.

He highlighted that 'Made in India' products are crucial for achieving 'Atmanirbhar' (self-reliant) status. He reiterated that whether it concerns chips or ships, they must be manufactured in India.

He said this during the 'Samudra se Samriddhi' programme on Saturday in Gujarat's Bhavnagar, where he inaugurated and laid the foundation stone for several development projects across multiple sectors worth more than Rs 34,200 crore.

Addressing the large gathering at Jawahar Maidan in Bhavnagar, "India is moving forward with the spirit of 'Vishwabandhu' (global brotherhood) and India has no major enemy in the world today, but in true terms, our biggest adversary is dependence on other nations. This dependency must be collectively defeated."

"Greater foreign dependence leads to greater national failure. For global peace, stability, and prosperity, the world's most populous country must become Atmanirbhar. Reliance on others compromises national self-respect. We cannot leave the future of 140 crore citizens to others. We cannot base the country's development on dependence on others. We cannot put the future of the coming generations at stake... The remedy for all difficulties is an Aatmanirbhar Bharat," he added.

He also mentioned that to achieve this, India will have to "confront challenges, reduce external dependence, and demonstrate true 'Atmanirbharta'."

Underscoring that India has never lacked capability, PM Modi launched a scathing attack on the then Congress-led UPA government and said that after Independence, the then ruling party "consistently ignored the country's inherent strengths."

"As a result, even after six to seven decades of freedom, India could not achieve the success it truly deserved. Two major reasons for this were prolonged entanglement in the license-quota regime and isolation from global markets at the hands of Congress," he said.

"When the era of globalisation arrived, Congress focused solely on imports, which led to scams worth thousands of crores. These policies caused significant harm to India's youth and prevented the nation's true potential from emerging," he added.

Citing India's shipping sector as a major example of the damage caused by flawed policies, PM Modi stated, "India was historically a leading maritime power and one of the world's largest shipbuilding hubs. Ships built in India's coastal states once powered domestic and global trade. Even 50 years ago, India used domestically built ships, with over 40 per cent of import-export conducted through them."

The Prime Minister slammed Congress, stating that the shipping sector later "fell victim to their misguided policies and instead of strengthening domestic shipbuilding, they preferred paying freight to foreign vessels."

"This led to the collapse of India's shipbuilding ecosystem and forced dependence on foreign ships. As a result, the share of Indian ships in trade dropped from 40 per cent to just 5 per cent. Today, 95 per cent of India's trade relies on foreign ships -- a dependency that has caused significant loss to the nation," he added.

Presenting statistics before the nation, PM Modi mentioned that citizens will be shocked to know that India pays nearly $75 billion -- approximately Rs 6 lakh crore -- every year to foreign shipping companies for shipping services. He highlighted that this amount is nearly equivalent to India's current defence budget.

"If even a small portion of this expenditure had been invested by earlier governments in India's shipping industry, the world today would be using Indian ships, and India would be earning lakhs of crores in shipping services," he said.

Stressing the idea of 'Atmanirbhar Bharat', PM Modi added, "If we have to achieve a Viksit Bharat by 2047, it must become self-reliant, there is no alternative to self-reliance, and all 140 crore citizens must commit to the same resolve -- be it chips or ships, they must be Made in India. With this vision, India's maritime sector is now moving towards next-generation reforms."

He announced that from today, all major ports in the country will be freed from multiple documents and fragmented processes. The implementation of the 'One Nation, One Document' and 'One Nation, One Port' processes will simplify trade and commerce.

PM Modi highlighted that during the recent Monsoon Session, several outdated laws from the colonial era were amended.

"A series of reforms has been initiated in the maritime sector, and five maritime laws have been introduced in a new form. These laws will bring major changes in shipping and port governance," he said.

The Prime Minister highlighted that in the past decade, more than 40 ships and submarines have been inducted into the Navy, and barring one or two, all have been built in India. He noted that the massive INS Vikrant was also constructed domestically, including the high-quality steel used in its production.

"India possesses the capability and lacks no skill. The political will required to build large ships is firmly in place," PM Modi asserted.