Move beyond domestic market to build global brands: Piyush Goyal tells industry

New Delhi: Indian talent is a big global brand, just like Tata, Mahindra and OYO, commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal said on Friday, even as he urged Indian businesses to move beyond the comfort of a large domestic market to focus on building world-class brands.

Selling at home has made Indian manufacturers less quality-conscious, "but things are changing," the minister said, and called for becoming more competitive. Speaking at the fourth edition of the Festival of Ideas here, he also said the decision to avoid Chinese firecrackers should come from the heart and that promoting domestic manufacturing should not come at the cost of consumer freedom. "I would disagree with you that Tata and Mahindra or OYO are our only brands. I will tell you the brand that India has: it's talent. That is Bharat brand," Goyal said. He also cited Bollywood to note that a brand can be a product, an industry or "our capability."

"We will build global brands," he said, noting that countries accounting for 75% of global gross domestic product give India preferential access under various trade deals. He said there is a need to take pashmina shawls and Kolhapuri chappals to the world, adding that while India is not in control of vehicles such as IKEA or Prada, "we can get economic benefits."


The minister cited Swiss athletic footwear brand On as an example of new brands challenging global brands. "If I were to tell you that Nike's brand value is falling, and who is coming out of the shadows? Still relatively small On. It is a 3-4 year old story, but it is taking over the mighty. They have created stores with one-price shoes. They have created a FOMO effect," he said. He noted that India continues to depend on imports for products it does not manufacture domestically, including advanced graphics processing units (GPUs) from the US, used in AI computing, while flagging "weaponisation" of trade and supply chains.

Goyal also warned against concentration of production and surplus capacity in a few geographies and predatory pricing practices by countries that do not adhere to World Trade Organization rules amid VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity). He listed Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia as India's competition and said New Delhi has to get preference over these countries in its trade deals.

Replying to a question on Chinese imports, the minister said: "We are in a democracy. The decision to avoid Chinese firecrackers should come from the heart... We should prioritise Made in India products, but we cannot force people to do so... Anyone who pays the duty and brings goods into the country has to be allowed to do so."

Emphasising that India's DNA has hard work, Goyal said: "Foreign concept of work-life balance, I do not accept. Some foreign mindset people who want to follow it can follow it... Successful people have not been successful by watching the clock." He further said, "Countries where people are dependent on social welfare are finding difficulty in finding manpower needs and significant outcomes."