Reimagining Self-Reliance: India’s Push for Homegrown Tech

During a roundtable conference, Neeraj Agarwal, COO of Tata Projects, reflects India’s growth journey through the lens of mindset shifts, government-industry collaboration, and support for homegrown innovation. From an infrastructure perspective, he highlights that fostering self-belief, regulatory facilitation, and risk-taking will be critical to help Indian enterprises scale globally and shape the nation’s technological destiny.

From an infrastructure perspective, how can we truly own our technological destiny by scaling homegrown solutions?

From an infrastructure standpoint, there are immense opportunities to leverage technology. The truth is, our sector is still in its early stages of tech adoption. We are not yet major consumers of advanced tools, and I would not consider standard ERP solutions as transformative tech.

This refers to technology that can drive higher-order outcomes—enhancing productivity, construction efficiency, control, management, and monitoring. There are numerous opportunities here. Many homegrown product developers have approached me with solutions tailored to the specific needs of the infrastructure sector.

Globally, infrastructure solutions are far from universally robust. While a few large players claim to address these challenges, there is ample room for innovation. For Indian tech developers, this is a unique opportunity: adoption is still at an early stage, allowing them to design solutions that are both needed and scalable.

In practice, the model works well when organizations with domain expertise collaborate with tech developers. We bring deep understanding of the problems, execution challenges, and operational nuances, while tech teams contribute their development skills and scalability. By combining these strengths, we can create solutions that are globally relevant—both reliable and cost-effective.

There is growing interest from international universities and research institutions to access and analyze operational data. Yet, there is limited engagement from domestic academic institutions. This underscores the potential of structured collaboration: tech developers and infrastructure operators can co-create solutions, leveraging real-world problems and data.

Ultimately, by combining the insights of those executing infrastructure projects with the capabilities of tech developers, we can develop meaningful, impactful, and globally relevant solutions.

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How should infrastructure companies evaluate and adopt homegrown ‘Make in India’ solutions over Western alternatives, and what steps are needed to make these solutions globally competitive?

Clearly, government support plays a critical role. Government facilitation can accelerate adoption considerably. A recent example from construction illustrates this: traditionally, buildings are constructed using brick-and-mortar methods, but precast panels offer a faster, more efficient alternative. The government recently mandated that a certain percentage of projects in specific sectors must use precast technology. This directive removed bureaucratic and industry hesitation, answered safety and cost concerns, and compelled adoption, leading to a measurable positive impact on the ground.

A similar approach could be applied to technology: if the government mandates a minimum adoption rate for truly homegrown products it could stimulate the market. At its core, this is a mindset issue: in the private sector, the government, and the bureaucracy. Leaders must embrace calculated risk and accept the possibility of failure as part of innovation.

Drawing on my experience in the oil and gas sector, I believe that China’s approach offers a useful model. By promoting homegrown products domestically first, they were able to prove reliability over several years and then confidently market them internationally. India can replicate this: industry and developers can create solutions while the government provides support to mitigate risk. For government-consumed solutions, there is room to take calculated risks, provided perception management is handled effectively.

Ultimately, changing mindset, encouraging risk-taking, and providing government support can unlock the potential of homegrown products. This approach not only strengthens Indian organizations but also allows them to demonstrate globally that their solutions are tested, reliable, and ready for the world market—just as advanced nations like China have successfully done.

What is holding India back from creating its own ‘Fab Four,’ and what changes in mindset, education, and policy are needed to unlock innovation and self-belief?

As Indians, we often tend to take the easier path. While the country has many entrepreneurs, much of the working population is content with routine tasks and is not encouraged to think beyond standard execution. From my professional experience with American and European companies, I noticed a key difference: there, strategic thinking happened externally, and we were mostly implementers. This reflects the reality for a large portion of the Indian workforce today.

Changing this mindset must start early, from universities and the education system. We often compare ourselves with the Japanese, Germans, or Europeans, but what are we truly known for? Primarily for delivery and execution. There is still a lingering belief that we should be governed or controlled by outsiders rather than taking charge ourselves.

While this mindset is gradually shifting as automobile innovation and exports demonstrate some progress, it remains slow. What India needs now is self-belief. Large, Indian-owned organizations in services and technology have the capacity to take control of their own destiny.

These companies have the resources, knowledge, and systems, honed through global work experience. With a combination of self-belief, government support, regulatory facilitation, or even modest financial incentives, India can significantly accelerate its journey toward innovation and ownership. It is not just about capability—it is about confidence and the willingness to lead rather than follow.

We are currently witnessing a surge in the establishment of data centers in India. This growth is not driven primarily by industry demand but by government regulation: after a certain date, data must remain within the country rather than going offshore. As a result, both global and Indian companies are setting up data centers domestically.

This example illustrates the significant influence government policy can have. It does not require direct financial investment—regulation alone can drive billions of dollars in industry investment. While such policies may attract both criticism and support, their impact is undeniable.

Importantly, this approach is not limited to data centers; similar policy-driven initiatives could be applied to any sector to catalyze domestic growth and innovation.

Also Read: Age of PLI and Indigenization: Can Indian Startups Rise to the Challenge?

What measures can accelerate large-scale collaboration between industry and government to create lasting impact?

Collaboration with the government is essential. From a “Make in India” perspective, the focus should first be on producing for India, and only then exporting globally. China provides a clear example: they first manufactured for the domestic market, tested and stabilized their products, and then expanded abroad.

Government collaboration can support this process by helping stabilize and standardize domestic production before global expansion. Even in international markets, government support remains crucial. For instance, Japan has successfully employed a model where loans are provided at extremely low interest rates, often tied to the condition that a significant portion of procurement must come from Japan. This ensures domestic industry benefits while enabling global outreach.

Similarly, India could adopt policies where, for example, projects financed by India abroad, whether in Africa or other developing regions require a certain proportion of goods or services to originate from India. This approach allows products made for the Indian market to gradually gain a global footprint.

Such collaborations, often quiet but effective, benefit manufacturers, tech giants, and service organizations alike. Instruments like concessional loans or other forms of government support are practical examples of how government-industry collaboration can accelerate domestic innovation while enabling global competitiveness.