The Hindu Business Line : Rediscovering India

If Amitabh Bachchan drinks a tender coconut in a TV commercial, millions take to the nature's best cool drink. So also if Mahendra Singh Dhoni relishes a glass of buttermilk. Or if Rahul Dravid dons a traditional kurta pyjama, many a youngster may do so. Simultaneously, this will trigger a chain of small economic activities across the country, and get millions of small entrepreneurs into the unorganised sector.

Eco-friendly products

A a change of attitude towards traditional, hand-made goods can engender an economic revolution to which millions of Indians can contribute. India's artisans still have the skill to make a wide range of biodegradable utility items, grow a wide range of vegetables, foodgrains and fruits without endangering the eco system. Russian scientist N. I. Vavilov identified the Indian region as one of the world's eight centres of crop plant origin where at least 166 crop species and 320 wild relatives of crops have originated.

India is home to the largest diversity of livestock in the world with 26 breeds of cattle, 40 of sheep, 20 of goat and 18 of poultry and all eight buffalo breeds. Unfortunately, native knowledge about plant and animal species has been picked up by other countries and led to economic growth there. Neem and bitter gourd have been developed and patented in the US and Japan. Plants are being researched in foreign labs for commercial utilisation.

The Chinese are now dumping replicas of Indian handicrafts made of cheap plastics and synthetic material. If India does not stop this plastic invasion, it could spell the ruin the domestic cottage industry products, which are popular all over the world.

The Government has to take urgent steps to create awareness among Indians for environment-friendly domestic products. Every Indian family can easily replace more than a dozen daily-use plastic items with handicrafts. This will give life to cottage industries. Though the export market for Indian gems and handicrafts is estimated at $235 billion, there is an even larger market for Indian biodegradable handicraft items.

Similarly, yoga has been quietly appropriated by the West with new names: Yoga plus, power yoga and yoga vita. There is a huge market for yoga products, both in India and abroad.

India has the largest surviving tribal economy. Tribal art is popular in the global market. If only we can save the forest from the land mafia and give tribals their due share of profit from the sale of products, their living conditions.

Pilgrim sector

The Indian pilgrim sector has tremendous potential; an estimated 15 crore Indians visit different places every year. It can grow on even larger a scale if just two things are ensured: Cleanliness and basic amenities available at these centres. Poorly maintained places and hardship in travel make pilgrimage less attractive. Recently town planners from five pilgrim centres went abroad to study tourism. This is good, but simpler would be to ensure that there is no unplanned growth in heritage cities and towns and that cleanliness is maintained. Pilgrim centres also sustain artisans who make religious artefacts. Many of those artefacts have become popular export items.

Organic living

The developed nations are aggressively going the the organic way. Organic dinner, organic cotton and even organic chicken are popular in the West. Organic agriculture is practised in almost every country. An estimated 31 million hectares are under organic cultivation across the world. The market value of organic products worldwide is put at $27.8 billion.

India still has vast tracts of land suitable for organic farming. The country should switch to organic farming before the developed world closes its doors to products with chemical residues. Growth of agriculture in developing nations depends on genuine globalisation and de-politicisation of the agri sector.

India should aim for monopoly in some economic sectors in global trade. The Finance Minister has rightly said in his Budget speech that there is a need to rediscover India.

(The author is a Pune-based freelance writer.)

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