The Economic Times

Discerning desis ensured that many local products are now on par with the worlds best

The long-held reluctance of Indians to accept locally made foreign items as equally good alternatives until well into the 21st century probably stems from the notorious policy of import substitution, a legacy of the era of socialist scarcity and Five-Year Plans. It was a typical sarkari diktat, supposedly to achieve economic self-reliance and protect domestic industry. But negligible focus on technology and quality benchmarking led to chronic sub-par products.