Traders' body asks top industrialists to join 'boycott China' campaign

Traders' body CAIT on Wednesday wrote to Reliance Industries chief Mukesh Ambani and 50 other captains of India Inc, including Ratan Tata, Azim Premji, Gautam Adani, Ajay Piramal, Anand Mahindra and Sunil Bharti Mittal seeking their support in its campaign to boycott Chinese goods.

The Confederation of All India Traders (CAIT) also urged Kumar Mangalam Birla, Vikram Kirloskar, Rahul Bajaj, Shiv Nadar, Pallonji Mistry, Uday Kotak, Nusli Wadia, Shashi Ruia, Madhukar Parekh, Harsh Mariwala, Satish Reddy and Pankaj Patel, among other prominent industrialists, to join its ‘Bhartiya Samaan-Humaara Abhimaan’ campaign. 

The traders' body, in its letter to Ambani, said, ‘At a time when China's army in the most clandestine manner has committed a barbaric attack on the Indian Army at Ladakh border resulting into the brutal killing of 20 brave sons of the country, the heart of every Indian is filled with deep anguish, resentment and abhorrence against the atrocities of the Chinese and their persistent attitude of antagonism towards India’. 

It said there is a firm resolve among Indians to hit back at China not only militarily but also economically. 

‘You and your organisation have always stood firmly in solidarity and support of the nation and this could be a great opportunity for you to show that nothing comes before nation and your support and initiative will surely encourage other Industrialists of the country to follow you in order to make India a self-dependent Bharat,’ CAIT said to Ambani.         

The traders’ body expressed the hope that Ambani would give a clarion call to promote Indian goods. 

‘Your positive decision could be a big boost for the campaign and a great service to the Soldiers who have laid down their lives for their motherland,’ CAIT told Ambani. 

CAIT secretary general Praveen Khandelwal said that being a successful entrepreneur and one of the captains of Indian Industry, it has invited the group of industrialists led by Ambani to join the movement as a valued partner and sought their support, terming it a "game-changing initiative that has the potential to reshape India's journey as a global superpower by reducing China's dominance". 

CAIT has decided to boycott Chinese Goods in a phased manner and for the first phase it has earmarked "finished goods" from an identified list of about 450 broad categories that have more than 3,000 products which are already being manufactured in India. 

In the meantime, it will be following up with the government to draw up a comprehensive strategy to facilitate Indian Industry, small industry, entrepreneurs, start-ups and others to evolve and manufacture goods in India pertaining to raw material, spare parts and technology driven goods, which are currently being imported from China.