As geopolitical shocks and frequent disruptions drive regionalisation of trade, industry leaders and multilateral research argue India’s Make in India and Vocal for Local programmes must become strategic, digitally connected and quality‑focused if the country is to capture higher‑value work in global value chains.
Amit Maheshwari, founder and chief executive of Softlink Global, warns that the reshaping of world trade is no longer hypothetical: “The ongoing supply chain shocks, geopolitical tensions and tariff escalations have pushed the world toward regionalisation,” he told CargoBreakingNews, and India’s “Vocal for Local” and “Make in India” efforts must be treated as strategic levers rather than slogans. “Technology will be the backbone of this transition,” he added, urging manufacturers and exporters to improve quality, scale infrastructure and embrace automation and digital logistics if India is to be “a dependable node in the global value chain.”
Those prescriptions map closely to the broader, evidence‑based debate now underway among consultants, multilateral economists and industry groups. McKinsey’s analysis of global value chains highlights a structural shift: rising pandemics, extreme weather, cyberattacks and trade disputes mean disruptions are becoming more frequent, and 16–26% of global exports could in principle be relocated. The consultancy argues firms must balance efficiency with resilience — diversifying suppliers, nearshoring selectively and investing in transparency and digital tools to monitor multi‑tier suppliers and accelerate response times. That combination of diversification and digital visibility is precisely what Maheshwari describes as a prerequisite for competitiveness.
At the same time, multilateral research counsels caution about simplistic policy fixes. An IMF working paper published on 25 February 2022 shows that tariff increases, particularly when imposed inside complex global value chains, tend to reduce value‑added, employment and total factor productivity across multiple countries and sectors. The paper concludes tariff escalation often produces collateral damage and is an imperfect tool for reshoring, underscoring the IMF’s view that structural measures — investment in skills, quality upgrades, infrastructure and supply‑chain diversification — are more effective for long‑run resilience than protectionist tariffs.
India already has pieces of this modernisation puzzle in place. Make in India, launched in September 2014, combines policy reform, sector roadmaps and investor facilitation across around 25 priority sectors with the explicit aim of lifting manufacturing’s share of GDP and creating jobs. Complementary initiatives such as Production Linked Incentives and Digital India seek to catalyse private investment and upgrade capabilities in electronics, automotive and pharmaceuticals — sectors McKinsey identifies as especially exposed to supply‑chain risk.
On the logistics and trade‑facilitation front, India’s customs digital infrastructure is evolving. ICEGATE’s Single Window and eSANCHIT platforms enable traders to submit clearance documents electronically at a single point, link supporting documents to shipping bills and bills of entry, and interoperate with port community systems and digital signatures. Those technical capabilities reduce paperwork and dwell time and, in theory, make Indian exports easier to finance, insure and move — provided exporters and ports adopt the systems end‑to‑end.
But linking domestic digital systems into global flows requires agreed standards. The International Chamber of Commerce’s Digital Standards Initiative advocates a harmonised set of data elements, legal principles and interoperability frameworks to make electronic bills of lading, certificates of origin and other trade documents legally and technically fungible across borders. Without that kind of interoperability, national digitisation gains can be blunted by cross‑border friction in documentation, compliance and trade finance.
For manufacturers on the shop floor, the case for automation and smart production is increasingly empirical. Deloitte’s 2025 Smart Manufacturing survey reports that companies investing in smart technologies are seeing measurable productivity and output gains, and that executives view automation as a core competitive lever. Yet Deloitte also highlights barriers: talent shortages, cybersecurity risks and the complexity of scaling pilot projects into enterprise‑wide transformations. Those are precisely the kinds of operational and human‑capital challenges Maheshwari and others warn industry must overcome.
Taken together, these threads point to a coherent, pragmatic strategy rather than a single silver bullet. Key implications for Indian industry and policy are:
- Prioritise quality and standards, not just quantity. Upgrading product quality and meeting global standards will determine whether manufacturers capture higher‑value work in reshaped supply chains.
- Scale both hard and soft infrastructure. Physical capacity — ports, roads, factory space and reliable power — must be matched by digital infrastructure for customs, certification and trade documentation.
- Invest in interoperable digital platforms. National systems such as ICEGATE’s Single Window need to be connected with international data standards to unlock trade finance and reduce frictions for exporters.
- Treat automation as an enterprise transformation. Smart‑manufacturing investments require workforce upskilling, cybersecurity planning and governance frameworks to realise the productivity gains Deloitte documents.
- Avoid protectionism as a first resort. The IMF evidence suggests tariffs can do more harm than good in value‑chain contexts; long‑term competitiveness rests on openness combined with structural support for firms and workers.
- Pursue selective diversification with strategic intent. McKinsey’s findings on relocatable exports imply that nearshoring and supplier diversification should be sector‑specific and risk‑informed, not blanket policy.
There is reason for cautious optimism. India’s policy architecture and some digital building blocks are already present. But realising the potential of “Vocal for Local” and Make in India will depend on execution: building industrial quality, connecting systems to global standards and committing to the workforce and cyber investments that turn digitally enabled factories into consistent, bankable suppliers.
As Maheshwari put it to CargoBreakingNews, “Yes, the industry will cope. But only those who act, adapt and automate will lead.” The question for policymakers and business leaders is whether they will translate that imperative into the coordinated public‑private action that the IMF, McKinsey, the ICC and industry surveys all say is required. If India wants to be more than a responsive partner in the next era of trade, it must make that transition deliberate, funded and fast.
Source: Noah Wire Services
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