Atma Nirbhar Bharat Abhiyan which translates to 'self-reliant India' is the new version of 'Make in India' which was announced by our Prime Minister on 12th May 2020. Its focal point is to make the nation self-reliant with more focus on local manufacturers and service providers.

Background- The Clock Rewind

The recent ban on 59 Chinese Apps was seen in a positive light by many Indians. This has been a power move by India after the Indo-China border tension in Ladakh. Then came the launch of Jio Meet by Reliance Jio which resembles its rival, Zoom but goes a step beyond to offer unlimited video calls instead of a 40-minute time-cap placed by the latter. In between such announcements, Govt’s Atma Nirbhar hit the right chords among us Indians.

But in reality, markets don’t just change hands overnight. There are just too many investments involved in the global market space, and India alone cannot shift the wave. I can see how all this recent news looks like the way towards a self-sustainable economy, but we can’t succeed unless we are able to strengthen our domestic services in the long game of innovation, disruption, and consistent value offering, so much so that it supersedes global giants in the market – and that indeed is a complex process which will only reveal the true success metrics for India in the years to come.

Tech space in India: The base

India is one of the fastest-growing markets for tech products and services. We often attribute the rise in user participation to lower data rates and affordable Smartphone technology enabling Indians to conveniently increase their consumption of online services and products.

While it is partly true, we often forget that it is apps like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and Twitter that hold our attention online. Not to forget, the hang of Googling things out for the sake of convenience.

Without these platforms, our Smartphone activity would look rather bleak.

The growth and its origin

Today we have a much more evolved online experience with services such as online shopping (Amazon, Flipkart), instant cab booking (Uber, Ola), and food delivery apps (Swiggy, Ubereats), which are changing our lifestyle preferences by offering a truly versatile online experience.

I’ve mentioned only a few from a vast pool of online apps across industries. It is, however, interesting to note that majority of the services we use were founded outside India.

We do have Indian platforms like Flipkart, but it was launched in 2007 after Global player Amazon entered the Indian market back in 2005. In another play, Indian app, Ola started early in 2010, and global player, Uber entered the Indian market three years later in 2013; but the latter was originally founded in 2009.

These comparisons are not to say that Indian apps only followed suit to grab the market share, as none of the above-mentioned global apps were the first in their respective industry. But it is hard to ignore the strong sense of innovation and user convenience that are usually first introduced by global platforms.

Speaking of value-driven Indian platforms, which almost eliminates the need for an alternate global choice, Zomato and Swiggy win big in the Food Industry. Indian apps Oyo and PayTM too fall in a similar league.

Of course, such apps, or for that matter, any successful businesses, are not built overnight – they take time to be perfected over software updates, bug fixtures, and resolving customer grievances. It is only after, that they go up as the ‘first choice’ among customer preferences.

The key is to stick around and be consistent in the game long enough to see potential consumers converting into repeat customers.

The present and future of Innovation in India

Coming back to the current scene, if Indian entrepreneurs and innovators take the current opportunity forward, they will have to exceed market expectations by going the ‘traditional way’, i.e. the long game of innovation, disruption, and consistent value offering.

And this could be a new hopeful chapter in the book of Indian Economy.

1. Despite the rapid pace of tech advancement, we are yet to see a reliable data security policy introduced by the Indian Government to protect citizens’ data.
2. The Indian smartphone market is flooded by Chinese brands - Over the years, they have perfected their models to the extent that it is almost impossible for existing users to give up their brand preference unless deep pocket investments are made to match the market expectation by Indian / newer mobile brands.
3. Outside the scope of tech space, India’s overall import value is more than its export value – more money flowing out of the country than flowing in. The bottom line of all the self-sustainable talk is to reverse the equation here.

It won’t be foolish to admit that I have barely scratched the surface of the entire market condition, but it does help to understand just how interdependent we are on international players for our own survival.