‘We tend to repeatedly beat China in…’: EY’s Randhir Kochar on the Indian advantage

India has this one advantage in the field of manufacturing that a giant like China lacks, said EY’s Randhir Kochar. This is something that foreign investors are looking for as nations move to adapt to China plus one strategy that aims to cut dependency on China for supply chains by diversifying the sources. 

Kochar, along with Dhiren Bammi, MD of Groz Engineering Tools, were speaking to Business Today TV as part of the EY | BT Hidden GEMs series. 

“One big thing which we hear is where we tend to beat China repeatedly is areas where there is customisation, technology, slightly smaller runs. Dhiren spoke about adding 100 new parts every now and then. These are things which Chinese competitors are unable to do. So, India is in some sense combining the ability to scale and get global scale manufacturing without losing its edge around being able to customise, being nimble, responsive and really providing a solution which is always there for the customer to see,” he said. 

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Investors have really picked up on this and they are chasing Indian manufacturing companies to deliver on all that, said Kochar. I think manufacturing in India has really picked up, the government is supporting and the Indian companies have taken a great challenge and they've really delivered, he added.

Kochar said that the China plus one strategy has been a buzzword for ages but it is only in the last couple of years that the theme has really played out. “We have seen a lot of shift in the global sourcing coming away from China for diversification reasons, whether that's after COVID, whether that's for geopolitical reasons, whether that's purely for cost reasons and technology reasons…I think there's a bunch of reasons and India has stepped up,” he added. 

India has been able to grab the opportunity and take advantage of initiatives like PLI and other government schemes that have come its way, said Kochar. “India really picked the gauntlet and gave the world an alternative to China,” he said.

Watch the full conversation here: