The rise in demand for locally manufactured goods is doing more than shifting consumer trends—it is reshaping India’s economic identity under the atmanirbhar-(self-reliant) banner. As highlighted by Narendra Modi in his recent address, the 2025 Diwali shopping season recorded an unprecedented sales volume of ₹6.05 trillion, with 87 per cent of customers choosing Indian-made goods. This wave reflects the broader aim of the Swadeshi movement and the Make in India strategy, linking citizen purchasing power to national manufacturing capabilities.

Yet the article warns that despite heightened consumption of “swadeshi” goods, the manufacturing sector’s share of gross value added has hovered around only 17.2–17.5 per cent between 2013-14 and 2023-24. That persistent structural lag points to the need for a stronger ‘missing middle’ of medium-sized enterprises, deeper industrial linkages and technology-intensive upgrading. The colonial legacy of deindustrialisation and export dependency looms large, underscoring the need for India to move beyond slogans to systemic transformation. In essence, buying Indian is only one step—translating that into sustainable manufacturing, jobs and global competitiveness is the next.