Baba Kalyani says India should get out of services, become product nation

PUNE : Baba Kalyani, Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Forge, said India needs to transition into a product-led economy while reducing its reliance on the services sector. He believes that the country must move away from a service-oriented mindset and focus on manufacturing products for both domestic and global markets.

Speaking at the Public Policy Festival 2026 in Pune, Kalyani stated that manufacturing is essential for the country’s economic growth. He noted that India’s manufacturing contribution to GDP should reach 25%, up from the current 13%, which has decreased from 15% earlier.

“We must become a product nation rather than remain a service nation,” Kalyani asserted. “For too long, we have been focused on services. We need to learn how to create products. If we continue to serve foreign companies or multinational corporations, India will not progress.”

Transition from Services

Kalyani expressed his belief that only Indians can build the country, and he does not support providing services to others. He pointed out that, despite the success of India’s IT companies, they have yet to develop a single product. Many of these companies are comfortable with tax breaks and are not pushing the boundaries of innovation.

He shared how Bharat Forge has evolved from a forging company to producing products for electronics, defence, and unmanned systems. The company supplies parts to automotive original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like Daimler-Benz, Toyota, Honda, Volvo, Scania, Ford, General Motors, and MAN. Additionally, Bharat Forge provides turbine blades and shafts to Rolls-Royce and landing gears for Airbus. Kalyani remarked that in his industry, German and Japanese companies are now trying to catch up.

New Industrial Mantra
He advised that the country should adopt the mantra of Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu, who says that it is no longer sufficient to have the ease of doing business; it is now essential about the speed of doing business. He drew attention to their experience in setting up a large facility in Andhra Pradesh, where they got 1,000 acres for their facility in just 15 days.