‘Ghar ke sher, global zero’: Raghuram Rajan asks why India copies well but fails to lead in innovation like TikTok or Porsche

India’s growing economic size can soon become the third largest economy in the world, but Raghuram Rajan, the Governor of Indian reserve bank, says that this success can be very little without a global innovation leader. Toi, who is currently a professor at the University of Chicago, argued that in a column published in Rajan, he could not create globally recognized product leaders despite the size of India’s domestic market and comprehensive state support for businesses. The institutional landscape of India says that the domestic giants who remain weak players on the global stage are dominant.

There is no global product icon from India

Rajan says that India is not the only worldwide company for its products. “We do not have a worldwide company for its products, or he writes. “No Nintendo, Sony or Toyota. No Mercedes, Porsche or Sap.” Despite the fact that India protects the automobile market with high tariffs, he says, “a large amount of Indian car model in the developed world is not sold.”
India’s automobile exports are limited to Rajan, niche, price -sensitive areas. In contrast, countries like China have become global leaders in electric vehicles, batteries and autonomous driving systems.

RISK -FREE CAPITALISM AND STATE PROTECTION

According to Rajan, India’s national champions operate in a “risk -free capitalism” system in which state policies protect them from market pressures. “Put them a tariff,” he writes, foreign competitors, “How many Indian companies use imports as inputs.” “If foreign investors such as Walmart pose a threat, put them regulatory restrictions” or initiate antitröst actions.

Rajan argues that this protection prevents companies from global innovation or competing. “As the inner market grows, the problem gets worse,” he warns. “Why do you innovate or become global, or he asks,“ When a stable imitation is enough to satisfy domestic consumers? ”

Pharma and IT sectors are also behind

Rajan says that even international access sectors such as pharmaceuticals and software have low performance in innovation. Indian pharmaceutical firms focused on generic drugs, but not focused on developing original formulations. The software sector, which grew in the Y2K period, has not yet created global dominant digital products. “Where are Indian Tiktok, Deepseek, Chatgpt and even Fortnite?” Rajan writes. “Some of them have local versions, but there are no global footprints because they are largely mimically imitating.”

Innovation withdrawn by weak research ecosystem

Rajan defines limited university research and weak commercialization channels as large bottlenecks. The newly launched Anusandhan National Research Foundation is a good step, but its resources should be “reproduced”.

He says a more competitive home environment is necessary. Reducing import tariffs, increasing foreign direct investment and limiting monopolies may direct enterprises to maintain innovation. He also calls more research financing and less bureaucratic obstacles in higher education.

Innovation as a national security concern

Rajan emphasizes that innovation depends not only on economic growth, but also on national defense. “As Ukraine shows … We will need better, smarter equipment and tactics, or he writes. Rajan warns that India may be inadequate in both economic and strategic power without moving to innovation.

Call a long -term innovation agenda

Rajan writes, ız If we are going to enrich it as a nation before getting old, we should increase the growth of GDP by making more innovation, ”Rajan writes. It concludes that it is not enough to be the third largest economy in the world. “We must be one of the most innovative countries … As a guarantee benefit, our companies will be globally home names.”