Why Make in India Weakens When Lokpals Choose BMWs
Change, like charity, must begin at home. The same principle applies to industrial policy. If the government believes in Make in India, it should start by practicing what it preaches. Instead, the recent bid to purchase seven luxury cars manufactured by BMW, the German carmaker, for members of the anti-corruption watchdog, the Lokpal, suggests that the slogan remains more decorative than directive.
But this is about credibility, not cars. When the government itself reaches for imported keys, how does it expect citizens to feel inspired to buy Indian – cars or other products?
India’s automobile industry is hardly short of capability. Tata, Mahindra and some others manufacture well-engineered, comfortable and feature-packed vehicles domestically, and even export their cars to dozens of countries. Why couldn’t versions of these, perhaps customised and upgraded, be good enough for our top officials, least of all for the Lokpal, a constitutional body meant to symbolise integrity, restraint and public service?
The Lokpal Act, 2013, under which the institution of the Lokpal was set up, was born of mass protests and hunger strikes demanding accountability from the powerful. It was to be the institutional sword against corruption in high places. When it finally began functioning in 2019, it was hailed as the dawn of a new era of accountability. Instead, it has become an exhibit of institutional inertia.
Reports suggest a near-total absence of proactive investigations by the Lokpal in these years. Several note that about 90% of complaints were rejected for being “not in the correct format". Must one imagine a meticulously documented graft complaint dismissed for using Times New Roman instead of Arial? What does the accountability mean, if the nation’s top anti-corruption body treats complaints like misfilled railway forms?
Against this backdrop, the demand for BMWs feels not merely tone-deaf but symbolic of a deeper malaise. When an institution that has barely lifted a finger against corruption chooses luxury over prudence, it signals that comfort takes precedence over credibility. And when that luxury is imported, it reveals what the government actually thinks about its own country's goods.
Defenders may argue that a few imported cars are trivial. But preaching austerity from a throne of indulgence, in a country where 90 crore people rely on some state support – from subsidised food grain to rural employment guarantees – makes taxpayer-funded BMWs a spectacle bordering on satire. Civil servants already enjoy salaries, pensions and perquisites enviable to the average Indian citizen. Shouldn’t those at the helm of an anti-corruption body set a higher moral example?
Whether Make in India has succeeded or struggled is beside the point. The choice of imported luxury sends the wrong message, and symbolism matters independently of performance.
Had the Lokpal chosen an Indian vehicle, imagine the message it would have sent: confidence in domestic manufacturing, restraint in public spending and solidarity with ordinary citizens. Instead, the message was: Indian goods are for the lesser mortals – we prefer Made in Germany.
Such decisions – privileging imported luxury over domestic capability – have consequences. When leading institutions legitimise extravagance, the habit seeps down the ranks. Soon, every official with a fluttering VIP flag will invoke “precedent” to justify a luxury import.
Once the culture of entitlement takes root, policy ideals collapse under its weight. The citizen sees through the hypocrisy and follows the example of those in power. Why should a consumer buy Indian with their own money when the state flaunts foreign luxury with public money?
This is a sort of intellectual corruption – a failure not in law but of values. Although it may not be punishable under any statute, it corrodes the foundation of public life. And, ironically, the very body meant to fight corruption seems blind to it.
Also read: Lokpal Wants Seven BMW Cars Worth Rs. 70 Lakh Each, Opposition Leaders, Activists Slam Move
The argument is not that Lokpal members must renounce comfort; a part of the human condition is to seek more of it. But the Lokpal is not a retirement club for the eminent. It is a constitutional body entrusted with upholding integrity at the highest levels of governance. One would expect its members to have outgrown the need for symbols of power or pride. Their greatest luxury ought to be the moral authority that comes from walking the talk.
To be sure, the BMW episode is merely one instance of a larger national habit: the state says one thing and does another. Make in India is painted on factory gates and government reports while procurement officers quietly draft tenders for foreign bidders. We celebrate entrepreneurship yet drown startups in compliance. We praise innovation but penalise risk-taking. We chant self-reliance while importing paper clips. We never stop to remember that no policy, however clever, can succeed without cultural coherence.
The government must draw a clear line: public institutions should, wherever feasible, use domestically produced goods and services, reserving imports only for what is truly indispensable, such as defence equipment or high-tech machinery. Exceptions ought to be rare, justified and made public. If every senior official arrived at public events in an Indian-made vehicle, the optics alone would be worth a thousand policy slogans.
More importantly, institutions like Lokpal must remember that avoiding the appearance of indulgence is as important as investigating corruption. So, before lecturing citizens about buying Indian, the government might begin by checking what’s parked in its own garages. Make in India will remain a slogan until Made in India becomes a habit – and good habits also begin at home.
V. Raghunathan is an academic and author of several books, including The Lion, the Admiral and a Cat Called B. Uma Vijaylakshmi: Learnings from Life and Management (Westland, 2024).
This article went live on November fifth, two thousand twenty five, at fifteen minutes past eight in the morning.The Wire is now on WhatsApp. Follow our channel for sharp analysis and opinions on the latest developments.
