Study of Indian sector selection problem amidst coronavirus disruption: an AHP approach

As China's position in the market weakens due to the coronavirus disease, supply chain managers are looking for alternatives to safeguard their businesses. India, with its strategic location, infrastructure and growing economy poses a great option. Several industry sectors in India are performing exceptionally well and can tap into the opportunity and showcase their prowess in stabilising the disruptions caused in the global supply chains. However, more investments are required for the development of these sectors to meet the global demand. The challenge that lies with the government is to prioritise sectors for investments. The present study aims at creating a decision-making framework using analytical hierarchy process (AHP) to solve this problem. The three-layer AHP framework, through pairwise comparisons, aims at identifying the sector on which the government should focus its investments upon based upon various performance parameters. The results from AHP depict that the pharmaceutical sector should be given priority in terms of investments for its development followed by chemical, agriculture, aquaculture and textile sector.