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Industrial policy redux: India must counter the Chinese supply grip
Debashis Basu
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First it was the shadow-banning of exports of rare earths that panicked Indian electric-vehicle (EV) manufacturers. Now comes the Chinese halt on specialised fertilisers. A German tunnel-boring machine bound for India is reportedly stuck in China, awaiting export clearance. What next? India, the drug-manufacturing giant, imports 80 per cent of key starter materials from China. What if that is choked?
China needs nothing critical from India — on the other hand, India needs $115 billion worth of goods every year from China to keep various parts of its economy going. All those who were advocating that manufacturing is less relevant
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