Overview

• Prime Minister Modi opened his Swadeshi appeal in Varanasi on August 2 by asking traders to sell exclusively Indian-made goods as a patriotic duty.
• Navam Capital’s Rajeev Mantri argued on August 3 that domestic products fall short of foreign alternatives, blaming persistent credit market failures, rigid labour laws and weak contract enforcement for hampering India’s manufacturing competitiveness.
• Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on August 5 linked foreign corporate profits to funding terrorism and religious conversions, urged support for local artisans and highlighted the launch of 186 projects under the One District One Product initiative in Aligarh.
• Analysts point out that manufacturing’s share of GDP has stagnated near 17–18 percent, prompting calls to review high import duties and expand production-linked incentive schemes to spur quality upgrades and output growth.
• Regional schemes such as One District One Product have curbed festival imports of Chinese goods, but experts warn that nationalist momentum must be matched by concrete policy reforms to sustain self-reliant manufacturing.