Anand Mahindra suggests how India could yield 'amrit' amid Trump tariffs, refers to 1991 forex crisis

Industrialist Anand Mahindra on Wednesday shared insights on what India could do to yield positive outcomes for the country in the face of US President Donald Trump doubling down on tariffs for Indian imports.

Anand Mahindra, chairman of Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd., reacted to Trump hiking tariffs on Indian imports.(Bloomberg)

Listing important areas where India could focus on, the Mahindra Group Chairman shared some suggestions.

"India must go beyond incremental reform and create a genuinely effective single-window clearance system for all investment proposals," Anand Mahindra said in a post on X as he pushed for boosting ease of doing business.

He asserted that countries around the world are searching for trusted partners and India could become one, attracting global capital by demonstrating "speed, simplicity, and predictability".

He also urged the government to form a "coalition of willing states aligning with a national single-window platform" in terms of investment.

Apart from investments and ease of doing business, Mahindra also suggested that India focus its attention on boosting tourism and using the industry for foreign exchange and employment. "We need to dramatically accelerate visa processing, improve tourist facilitation, and build dedicated tourism corridors around existing hotspots, offering assured security, sanitation, and hygiene," he wrote.

"And a broader action agenda to build on these pillars: Liquidity & Support for MSMEs; Infrastructure Investment acceleration; A Manufacturing Push, via enhancement and expansion of the scope of PLI schemes; Rationalise import duties so that duty on manufacturing inputs are lowered and assist in improving our competitiveness," he added.

Anand Mahindra's remarks came after Donald Trump hiked tariffs on Indian imports to 50%, citing its purchase of oil from Russia on Wednesday. Of the total duties, the 25 per cent announced earlier have come into effect as Trump's August 7 deadline for reciprocal tariffs has ended.

After Trump's announcement, Anand Mahindra said countries cannot be faulted for prioritising themselves, and urged India to "make our own nation greater than ever."

He also wrote, "Just as the 1991 forex reserves crisis triggered liberalisation, can today’s global ‘manthan’ over tariffs yield some ‘amrit’ for us?".

Citing recent examples of the European Union's response to tariffs and Canada's attempts to tackle internal trade barriers between its provinces, the industrialist said the ‘law of unintended consequences’ seems to be operating stealthily amid the ongoing tariff war.