Manufacturing must not rely on tariffs for cover: India Inc

India's manufacturing sector must focus on competitiveness and scale rather than rely on tariffs for protection, senior India Inc executives said on Tuesday.

- SOHINI DAS & JADEN MATHEW PAUL

Speaking at the CII Manufacturing Summit, Jamshyd Godrej, managing director (MD) and chairman of Godrej & Boyce, the holding company of the Godrej group, said India has historically maintained high tariffs to protect domestic investors but asserted that the economic liberalisation in 1991 was necessary to push industries towards global competitiveness. "Tariffs are all about competition. If you are going to hide behind tariff walls, you are not going to be competitive," Godrej told reporters.

"Enhancing global competitiveness, growing supply chain reliance, and focusing on research and development (R&D) to come up with value-added products and services, were the challenges before the Indian industry," B Thiagarajan, Blue Star MD, told Business Standard.

This assumes significance in current geopolitical dynamics, where a tariff war is being waged.