‘If we can do…’: Compcircle’s Gurmeet Chadha calls for 10% shift toward Indian products

Gurmeet Chadha, Managing Partner & CIO at Compcircle, has made an emotional appeal urging Indians to support domestic companies. With tensions escalating with Pakistan, Chadha’s call strikes a chord at a time when national sentiment is running high.

In a post on X (formerly Twitter), Chadha wrote, “One request for fellow Indians. Let’s try and support domestic cos as much as possible. If u r manufacturer, think of reducing inputs from China. As a consumer buy as much as possible from Indian cos. Make our family aware of this. Support SMEs. I know it’s easier said. But if we can do 10% shift, it will add up…”

The post quickly sparked discussions among netizens, who shared their frustrations and aspirations for India’s manufacturing sector.

“Indian companies? See this Milton glass bottle I purchased, its Country of Origin is China. What’s the root cause preventing Indian companies from manufacturing such a simple product? How can India compete with China’s low-cost, high-margin, large-scale manufacturing?” questioned one user.

Another pointed out systemic issues, saying, “The problem is we are just assembling things whether it is phones or cars or high end machines… even for Tech innovations we are just doing clerical jobs… Its high time we accept it and announce JV with many Chinese and American companies which leads to tech transfer.”

A third user stressed the need for quality improvements: “Pls also appeal indian manufacturers to build quality products. Sadly most of manufacturers are serving to fulfill the need of masses not to innovate and challenge the status quo.”

Chadha’s call comes at a critical juncture as India attempts to boost its manufacturing sector’s contribution to the economy. 

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently announced plans to increase the manufacturing sector’s share of GDP from 12% to 23% over the next two decades. Speaking at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University, Sitharaman emphasised the government’s strategy to focus on 14 sunrise sectors, including semiconductors, renewable energy components, medical devices, batteries, and labour-intensive industries like leather and textiles.

The Production-Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme has been introduced to bolster these sectors, with particular attention to those offering significant employment potential, such as electronics, textiles, and leather goods.