“The pandemic has shown us that being self-reliance in critical areas is important but also having FDI in areas that India doesn’t have the technology for or doesn’t have the capability to develop is also important," said former PepsiCo Chairperson and CEO, Indra Nooyi in an interview with CNBC-TV18's Shereen Bhan.

While sharing her views on what is the need of the hour as India makes efforts to become a self-reliant economy, she further said the question is developing a blueprint and a plan for the right combination of the industries for self-reliance and foreign direct investment (FDI).

"(Make sure) when FDI comes in, you nurture it, protect it and allow it to thrive because otherwise others are not going to come in with the power of the purse," she added.

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The ex-chief of retail giant Pepsico believes India needs to thread the needle very carefully in figuring out what are the critical industries India wants to be self-reliant with.

“Having a clear blueprint of industries and sectors you want home-grown or made in India versus where you think FDI can benefit the country and that requires government intervention and government planning and the history of the country has been very good at long-term planning to decide what sectors they want to invest in,” Nooyi reiterated.

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According to her, India is still one of the most desirable markets in the world. “Its size, its demographic dividend makes it a very attractive market, we have got to get more FDI in critical, future-oriented industries,” she mentioned.

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(Edited by : Abhishek Jha)