L&T calls for reduction in imports from China, affirms commitment to self-reliant India

Larsen & Toubro on Tuesday called for a drastic reduction in India's dependency on imported products, including those from China, and committed to achieving self-reliance for the domestic industry by creating a strong and feasible Make in India ecosystem.

"We can drastically reduce our dependency on imported products including those from China by putting processes and systems in place to develop a large scale, efficient and cost-effective domestic industrial ecosystem over a medium to long term," said CEO and Managing Director S N Subrahmanyan.

The comments of the L&T chief come even as the country is embroiled in a border face-off with China. Twenty Indian soldiers were killed in the violent face-off with Chinese troops in eastern Ladakh's Galwan valley on June 15. Indian intercepts revealed that the Chinese side suffered 43 casualties including dead and seriously injured in the violent clash.

"The atmosphere is right for that and we should accelerate this. We are fully supportive of the government's initiatives and will do our best to contribute to Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan," he said in a statement.

L&T is India's leading multinational engineering, construction, technology, and financial services conglomerate with over 21 billion dollars (about Rs 1.6 lakh crore) in revenue and operations in more than 30 countries.

"With an unfortunate incident involving our brave soldiers at our border, sentiments are running high in the country. As a company involved in nation-building for more than eight decades, we firmly stand with the policy of manufacturing best-in-class products locally through Make in India," said Subrahmanyan.

He said L&T takes pride on being at the forefront of creating projects and products, some of the largest, biggest and longest in the world -- all made in India.

The company has been involved in developing a strong supply chain of local vendor partners in its businesses like it did for over 80 per cent localisation for its 155mm/52 calibre tracked, self-propelled K9 Vajra-T guns supplied to Indian army.

It is also nurturing the local manufacturing and construction ecosystem involved in producing efficient and cost-effective substitutes for the global markets.

As a long-term proponent of Make in India, L&T has been contributing for almost all key engineering and technological developments in the country for over eight decades. It played a significant role in the construction of almost all nuclear reactors for the power generation.

L&T said it is also at the forefront of construction of key national buildings, monuments and factories, construction of transportation and smart urban infrastructure, supporting defence forces by providing cutting-edge products and supplying critical components for Indian space programmes. 

-ANI

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