With Donald Trump threatening recent tariffs and China poised to flood world markets with low cost exports, Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu has issued a stark warning: “We’ll face an onslaught of Chinese language items… navigating this shall be an enormous problem.”
In a seven-point notice posted on X, Vembu laid out what he calls a survival blueprint for India amid a fracturing world order. From meals and vitality self-reliance to manufacturing facility sprints and rupee-based commerce, his message is pressing: India should act decisively—not simply to guard itself, however to guide the place others might falter.
1. Meals safety comes first“Fortunately India is self-sufficient in meals and we should safeguard our meals safety,” he says. However self-reliance isn’t sufficient. As poorer nations face rising stress, India, he argues, should develop extra to assist these sliding into meals crises. “That’s our dharma as Bharat.”
He factors to the nation’s vaccine diplomacy throughout Covid as proof of what such outreach can accomplish.
2. Hyperlink vitality to meals—and go sustainable“Vitality is meals,” Vembu notes, highlighting how trendy agriculture depends upon fossil-fuel-derived fertilizers and equipment. Whereas India at present advantages from wholesome ties with petroleum-exporting nations, he requires long-term investments in sustainable farming.
Meaning R&D in water administration, livestock and plant ecosystems, electric-powered farm machines—and critically, non-public mannequin farms and coaching centres.
3. Brace for China’s overcapacity shockChina, he warns, will not be partaking in business aggression out of energy, however “desperation within the face of huge overcapacity.” The end result? A worldwide glut of every thing from metal to EVs.
He suggests one counter-strategy:
“Negotiating to pay for Chinese language imports in rupees could also be a superb start line… Which will additionally push their corporations to purchase from us.”
Extra broadly, renegotiating exterior debt repayments in rupees may increase India’s export enchantment. “The world will probably be extra receptive now,” he provides.
4. A 3–5 12 months dash to construct factories“We’d like a 3-5 12 months dash to construct factories in all places,” Vembu writes. Importers and distributors of international items should be pushed to fabricate regionally, with authorities incentives sweetening the shift.
His proposal: permit full first-year write-offs for factories arrange in backward districts, and a 50% write-off elsewhere to fast-track investments.
5. Import capital items, not shopper goodsIndia ought to prioritize importing equipment and gear that permits manufacturing, not end-user shopper items. “And negotiate to pay for these capital items in rupees,” he provides—tying again to his broader push for native foreign money leverage in commerce.
6. Make non-public R&D the following revolutionIndia should increase its R&D-to-GDP ratio to three% inside the subsequent 5–10 years, pushed primarily by the non-public sector. Vembu suggests a “CSR-like obligation” to fund R&D, together with fast write-offs for R&D-related capital spending.
7. Share information, don’t hoard itAs India invests in innovation, it should additionally uplift others, Vembu urges. “They don’t have the huge human sources to invent that we do,” he writes.
“Once we begin inventing, we should share fairly than hoard. That’s the solely technique to a extra simply and extra steady world order. That’s our dharma as Bharat.”
