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challenges specific to China in the Economic Survey. As a first step, all Multinationals should look at India as a global manufacturing hub in addition to large Indian business houses and families in the business, SMEs to support the ancillary supplies the eyewear sector can grow manifold in India in the area of manufacturing. Time is ticking and we must now have Apex All India eyewear, spectacles, contact lenses, and primary screening services industry body in place to highlight the opportunities and challenges to the Govt of India and State Govt. Hopefully, we will have this in place before the next India budget in the year 2025. Ramachandran P, Fellow, Institute Of Directors (IOD) Eyewear Consultant And Hon Advisor – India Vision Institute. of the extracts from the survey are reproduced below. The questions that India faces are: (a) Is it possible to plug India into the global supply chain without plugging itself into the China supply chain? and (b) what the right balance is between importing goods and importing capital from? It is pertinent to note that some Chinese goods are so cheap that no amount of tariff can reduce their price competitiveness. To boost Indian manufacturing and plug India into the global supply chain, it is inevitable that India plugs itself into China's supply chain. Whether we do so by relying solely on imports or partially through Chinese investments is a choice that India has to make. The optical industry relies heavily on Chinese imports and we need to derisk. India needs to certainly accelerate manufacturing of all eyewear products to cater to the domestic demand and the globe. In order to achieve this the Govt has recognised the The Economic Survey has captured relevant issues that are faced in our industry. There is a shortage of skilled workforce to address the incorrected refractive error, especially in smaller towns and villages. There must be a concerted effort of the industry to come up with a recommendation to the Ministries concerned to bridge this gap. The government has launched several schemes, such as the Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana and the Credit Guarantee Fund Trust for Micro and Small Enterprises, aimed at providing affordable credit to MSMEs which currently have an estimated credit gap of around Rs 20-25 lakh crore. Are we availing of the schemes? How do the associations help or share the information with all the players in the optical businesses? The Economic Survey also addresses China's dominance in manufacturing and some 58 VISION PLUS INDIA EDITION