New Delhi, Sept. 2 -- Prime Minister Narendra Modi's renewed appeal to Indians to avoid non-essential gold purchases, foreign travel and overseas weddings has sparked considerable debate on social media. Explaining the rationale behind the appeal, Zoho founder Sridhar Vembu said India needs to conserve foreign exchange as it remains dependent on imports for energy and advanced technology.

Vembu explained that despite India's economy growing at 7.8%, the Prime Minister's push for Swadeshi is driven by a few simple reasons:

East Asian nations (Japan, Taiwan, South Korea, and later China) all went through a phase of rapid GDP growth alongside the need to conserve foreign exchange. Here is why that happens.

"Look at how long it took East A...