Mumbai, Jan. 8 -- Union Minister Nitin Gadkari is pushing for a decisive shift in India's economic strategy trim imports, ramp up exports and promote fast-tracking of domestic manufacturing to position India as the world's third-largest economy.

He pitches that decreasing the dependence on imported products, especially crude oil and high-value components, would strengthen local industries, conserve foreign exchange, and give it much-needed resilience. He cites innovative ideas such as those of converting farm waste to bio-bitumen for road construction as one way to cut imports of crude oil while offering an ecological dividend in the bargain.

India pursues trade diversification in view of negotiating free trade agreements, backing expo...