“With the government’s focus on ‘Aatmanirbhar bharat’, I am sure that there will be a push for localization of products.”
Excerpts of the interview with Mr. Anurag Pandey, Executive-in-charge at Global Wires India-Tata Steel:
Challenges to reckon with:
In India, while it seems that the situation is improving; however, across the globe, we are finding that various countries are still struggling and going for lockdowns. So, we must be cautious and take all the necessary precautions to ensure that second wave in India do not come through. Industries across all sectors, are still striving to stabilize their supply chains; hence, we need to be watchful of any further disruption, and be ready with the alternate plans in case of any unexpected situation.
Expectations from the Government:
I think the Government is very sensitive and has taken cognizance of the issues being faced by various sectors, and there have been various interventions at various points of time. With the government’s focus on ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, I am sure that there will be a push for localization of products. A lot of expectation is also now building up for the upcoming budget; the government is interacting with various stakeholders, and trying to understand their requirements. We expect that at this time, the budget’s emphasis will be on major infrastructure development.
Strategies to strengthen the economy post-COVID:
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, digital adaption has been accelerated, which has changed the way we used to work. In my understanding, in this way, our efforts are also aligned in that direction to expedite digitalization of various parts of the ecosystem. Also, when the government is talking of the ‘Aatmanirbhar Bharat’, we are also working closely with various customers, trying to understand their requirements.
Fast forward to 2021 – the way ahead:
As I said earlier, there has been a change in the way we used to work prior to this pandemic. Digital transformation has changed a lot of things, i.e., the way we reach out to the end consumers, and how we interact with various stakeholders etc. I think we need to start strengthening our digital presence and build up further on that. Secondly, we know that there may be some supply chain disruptions that can happen. Consequently, we need to prepare ourselves from the learnings, and we should try to ensure that the supply chain disruption is minimal.
But the most important aspect is the health and safety of the people. As we have taken a lot of initiatives for health and safety of the people, and there have been tremendous learning in this area. We need to continue with them till pandemic subsides, and, I would say some practices need to continue beyond the pandemic.
