Self-reliance in farm machinery manufacturing for an Atma Nirbhar Bharat

Abstract

Agriculture continues to be the bedrock of the Indian economy, given 2/3rd of India’s population and 70% of its workforce residing in rural areas, generating nearly 46% of the national income, with its contribution to the GDP consistently at over 15% in recent years. As COVID-19 brought India’s economic growth to a grinding halt, agriculture emerged as the only sector that bucked the trend and aggregated growth. According to the ministry of statistics, the agriculture sector’s contribution to GDP has risen from 17.6% in 2018-19, to over 20% in 2020-21.