Over the last two decades, India’s participation in global value chains and international production networks have improved, but the domestic value added embodied in gross exports has exhibited a fluctuating trend. In 2020, India launched the “Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan,” where enhancement of the DVA content of exports can be considered as an underlying objective. The impact of various factors of production and other drivers on India’s DVA content in select manufacturing exports have been identified in this paper with help of trade in value added data for 2000–18. The empirical results indicate that the focus on export and FDI promotion policies by itself will not lead to either self-reliance or address employment worries in India. A coordinated effort towards labour skill augmentation along with technology transfer will be instrumental in this regard.
COVID-19 has not only caused deaths but has also exacerbated hunger and starvation due to nationwide lockdowns in the country that have led to a massive breakdown in the supply chain networks. These tough times are no less than a “wake-up call” for India to devise a permanent supply chain solution that ensures an uninterrupted supply of food and nutrition as well as timely healthcare and employment for its population.
The rapidly expanding global value chains of multinational corporations are increasingly dominating international trade, which emerging economies like India can hardly afford to ignore. The limited presence of Indian small and medium enterprises in the GVCs of MNCs can be traced back to a negligible share of internationalised SMEs, which is primarily due to a weak innovation base, owing to weak networks of SMEs, particularly weak inter-firm linkages. These issues can be overcome by building and strengthening regional innovation systems and by establishing a multipurpose science and technology commission in the clusters of SMEs.
COVID-19 has widely affected global supply and value chains, and specific sectors around the world. In this scenario, the options for India to optimise its regional and global value chain linkages with the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership are examined, which in turn could aid in its post-pandemic recovery.
India’s participation in global value chains is investigated, focusing on its exports. Changes in stages of value chain participation for key export sectors are unravelled and its implications for India’s trade policy are commented on.
Low demand, high trade costs, poor infrastructure, unstable law and order and the lackadaisical nature of government impede the economic growth of the North Eastern Region. This prolonged underdevelopment points to the urgent need of the NER to integrate with the global economy for faster economic growth. Such an integration and subsequent economic transformation can be made possible through participation in global value chains. The NER has comparative trade advantage in producing labour-intensive products, and participation in services-based GVCs, particularly tourism, can be very profitable for the NER.
