The economic crisis triggered by the coronavirus pandemic in 2020 gave birth to the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. Atmanirbhar means ‘self-reliant’. On 12 May, the Indian Prime Minister announced in his address to the nation an economic package of ₹20 trillion to tide over the coronavirus crisis under the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan. The economic package announced would play an important role in making India ‘self-reliant’ and it would benefit labourers, farmers, honest taxpayers, MSMEs and the cottage industry. Making the country self-reliant was the only way to make the 21st century belong to India. According to the government, this Abhiyan is not protectionist in nature and self-reliance does not advocate a self-centred protectionist system. According to Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan, India’s self-reliance is based on five pillars:

1.     Economy,

2.     Infrastructure,

3.     Technology-driven system,

4.     Vibrant demography and

5.     Demand.

Its objectives are to strengthen the local manufacturers and service providers to enhance a sense of self-reliance in the nation, improve the standard of living by focusing on the trade deficit and the exchequer balance, revive every sphere of the economy with a rise in fiscal stimulus, emphasise on self-reliance with a focus on land, labour, liquidity and laws, and issue economic packages equivalent to 10% of the Indian GDP and special incentives and funds for small businesses and farmers who faced losses from COVID-19.

This issue of the journal revolves around the concerns that are important for self-reliant India. Using technology to understand the research contribution of an institute, looking at financial inclusion through microfinancing, examining the financial results of the nation’s public and private sector banks in order to comprehend how well the bank makes financial decisions, assessing the present status of high-frequency trading (HFT) in stock markets in India and studying the willingness of consumers to adopt swadeshi and give up global brands for some chosen product and service categories are the research articles included in this issue.

The first article has examined the Google Scholar profile for Gandhigram Rural Institute. The Gandhigram Rural Institute’s faculty publications information were collected from Web of Science and Scopus as of 22 January 2021. After consolidating the data from Web of Science and Scopus, a Google Scholar profile was created. Department publications, Google Scholar citations, the top 15 highly cited articles, and the citations and h-index of the top 15 faculty members were all analysed. It concluded that having an institution profile in the Google Scholar profile made it very difficult to update and strengthen all the data in the profile. A Google Scholar profile could be useful as an individual profile if the data are kept up-to-date and maintained.

Financial inclusion of the economically weaker sections of society in India has been the most challenging mission for the government. Microfinance is being given to the underprivileged for sustaining themselves and starting their own businesses. However, several operational and legal barriers have threatened the efficient operation of microfinance institutions and restrained their growth. The purpose of the next study has been to understand the macro and micro challenges involved and faced by various institutions in the delivery of microfinance services in rural India. For the study, secondary data and informal interviews were done. The effective execution of delivery methods for microfinance was investigated in the article along with techniques that addressed the problems. The findings showed the difficulties of people from rural areas, their inaccessibility to microfinance and the inability of microfinance institutions in controlling transaction costs. The article has also highlighted ways to provide as many rural residents as possible with the necessary credit money.

The foundation of every nation’s economic structure is made up of financial institutions. They assist the economy to expand by giving their clients financial support and services. One of the key factors in the growth of the national economy has been the banks. The study has examined the financial results of India’s public and private sector banks to comprehend how well the banks have made financial decisions and identify the various factors that affect the bank’s financial stability. The research instrument used has been the Capital adequacy, Asset quality, Management capability, Earnings capacity and Liquidity (CAMEL) Model and t-test. The article concluded that public sector banks need to focus on strategic decisions for sustaining the competition with private sector banks. They require to be more professional like private players in the banking business.

HFT is one of the most significant recent developments in the financial markets. The article has aimed to assess the present status of HFT in stock markets in India and across the world and to identify subjective areas that can be used for carrying out research in HFT in relation to stock markets operating in India. The article has helped to bring out significant areas of research gap which can help to regulate HFT without much impact on the retail investors by reducing the leveraging effect of the prices. The study on whole has provided a clear synthesis of HFT and its impact on stock markets over the decade which has helped to identify significant areas of research related to Indian as well as world stock markets.

A lot of things have changed since the deadly coronavirus attack, and the world has changed upside down. There have been changes in the systems and operations of the business, and reforms in economic and financial policies all over the world and in India. In India, the local pitch in support of local businesses, ‘go vocal for local’, has been a step towards the Atmanirbhar economy. On one hand, there are consumers who are prepared to buy only domestic brands, while on the other hand, some are unwilling to give up global brands completely or selectively. The last article studied the willingness of consumers to adopt swadeshi and give up global brands for some chosen product and service categories such as electronics, apparel, FMCG, restaurants and services apps. The study was primary in nature. EFA and regression analysis were employed to analyse the data. The results have suggested that nationalism and Anti-China sentiments have had a significant impact on consumer inclination towards swadeshi brands. The study has suggested that the Government, entrepreneurs and industrialists take suitable actions to use these sentiments to increase the acceptability of domestic brands and hence invocate Atmanirbhar Bharat (Self-reliant India).

In May 2020, the Government of India announced the ₹20 lakh crore Atmanirbhar Bharat economic package. This includes additional allocations for MGNREGS, frontloading already budgeted schemes such as PM-KISAN, liquidity-driven measures for MSMEs and farmers, and a push for reforms in agriculture and public sector enterprises. Using government reported data, the funds allocated (in rupees crore) is 1,370,527 in six sectors—agriculture and allied sectors (28.99%), energy (6.56%), finance (5.42%), MSMEs (27.59%), infrastructure (0.59%) and socio-economic welfare (30.77%). This pathway of self-reliance has changed in a globalised world, and it is different from being self-centred. India’s fundamental thinking and tradition of ‘Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam’ provides a ray of hope to the world. This should be seen in the context of Human-Centric Globalisation versus Economy Centralised Globalisation.

Bhavna Raina

Journal of Development Research,VESIM

E-mail: bhavna.raina@ves.ac.in