India needs alternative development model to avoid pitfalls of globalisation: EAC-PM official

India needs an alternative and a self-reliant development model ‘with Indian characteristics’ to avoid pitfalls of globalisation witnessed in western democracies, a top government official of the Economic Advisory Council to the PM (EAC-PM) said.

“The Indian model of growth and development should encourage trade liberalisation, but safety nets should be in place to address displacement issues,” Shamika Ravi, member, EAC-PM said in her working paper titled Making India Self-Reliant.

“Market efficiency and privatisation should be encouraged but with sufficient safeguard that economic power is not concentrated in the hands of the few,” she said, adding that the neo-liberal economic models that focus exclusively on efficiency do not address political and social issues arising from the concentration of wealth.


“India has been a net gainer from globalisation, but moving forward will require a fine balance between trade liberalisation and strengthening of domestic safety nets across the country,” she said, cautioning that India must learn from the experiences of western democracies and avoid their pitfalls.

Citing India’s high dependence on oil imports compared to the United States and China, Ravi said reliance on imports implies that the future growth and development of the Indian economy would be subjected to global geo-political events that influence the availability of oil and such external dependence might not be desirable from an energy security perspective.

“Given that domestic oil production might not be sufficient to meet our growing energy needs, we would have to redouble our efforts towards renewable energy, which can be domestically sourced,” she said, suggesting the need for a pan-India Energy Revolution, something similar to the Green Revolution.

Commenting on the need for being self-reliant in the defence sector, Ravi said one major way for India to become self-reliant in the arms industry is to encourage public-private partnerships.

“The private sector works with government grants to develop the latest technology. An explicit strategy to engage with the private sector should also involve the start-ups actively participating in the sector,” she said.