Outdoor Asia Article

Sunder Hemrajani

Voice & Data Article

Mr. Sandip Das

Dr. J.K.Mitra

Professor Mitra offers a new elective course to MBA (”Full-Time) batch of 2014-2016 entitled “Strategic Leadership to Make In India Happen

Is Make In India a collective dream of a country that, in the words of our Prime Minister, has democracy, demand and demographic dividend? While the obvious purpose of M-I-I campaign is to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) to somewhat emulate China to lead an export-led growth, is GOI fully aware of the possible roadblocks? Does a clever twist to the acronym FDI as First Develop India and promise to convert proverbial Red Tape to Red Carpet for the moneybags make the onerous task easier? Has the re-recent attempt to make India a great manufacturing hub generated enough interest to convert India from Interest grade economy to Investment grade to Inclusive grade economy?

All dreams emanate from wishful thinking and nightmares too arise out of deeply held anxieties. Queer questions queue up that do not get easy answers. For example, it is much easier to talk about improving the ‘ease of doing business’ in India, but to change the archetypical perception about the ‘business’ is a difficult business. How much of these perceptions are rooted in the collective memory of a country where a business entity came to rule us for nearly two centuries? How much of the baggage of the red tape got created by the business-turned-colonial rulers who had no reason to trust the natives? How do we restore trust of each other? Aren’t the ‘scams’ that we all unearth and hurl at each other reflect that deepseated distrust?

We are a young nation and will remain so for a few more decades. But are we doing enough to stoke and stimulate our youthful energies? Are we creating enough institutions that channelize the youthful spontaneity to peaceful and productive purposes? We had been diligently adding diploma dispensing institutions; but are we creating enough unique knowledge and replicable competencies to translate our vision into realities? How do we create enough space (land)? How do we create enough energy (power)? How do we create enough cohesion by enhancing the sense of social security? How do we protect our future by protecting the ‘nature’? How do we pursue and achieve the motto of Zero Defect, Zero Effect?

The dream to salvage ourselves from the brink of destitution is a dream worth dedicating lives by every Indian. The seeds of such divine dream strike roots only when these reach the grassroots. The dream needs to reach every nook and corner of India to galvanize the collective spirit in shaping the future of the planet where we live now and our future generations will live to dream happily.

Mr. Yogesh Munjal

Mr. Yogesh Munjal is a dynamic Industrialist with an eye for continuous innovation in overall working. He is Managing Director of Munjal Showa Ltd. (a Hero Group company) is an eminent personality in the corporate world. He graduated in the field of Architecture from IIT, Roorkee . Eversince he finished his formal education, he was associated with many of the Hero Group companies in the capacity of CEO and contributed for making the companies as world leaders. MUNJAL SHOWA LTD. – an ISO 14001, TS 16949 & OHAS-18001 compliant company having collaboration with SHOWA CORPORATION of JAPAN – the largest manufacturers of SHOCKERS in the world. The company is engaged in the manufacturing of world class Automotive Components such as Front Forks, Rear Shock Absorbers for Motorcycles and scooters & Struts, Window Balancers for Vans and Cars.. He is actively involved in corporate social activities of Educational institute, Hospitals and spiritual & religious institutions. Company is getting special awards for Green Environment and work safety.Mr. Yogesh Munjal is a dynamic Industrialist with an eye for continuous innovation in overall working. He is Managing Director of Munjal Showa Ltd. (a Hero Group company) is an eminent personality in the corporate world. He graduated in the field of Architecture from IIT, Roorkee . Eversince he finished his formal education, he was associated with many of the Hero Group companies in the capacity of CEO and contributed for making the companies as world leaders. MUNJAL SHOWA LTD. – an ISO 14001, TS 16949 & OHAS-18001 compliant company having collaboration with SHOWA CORPORATION of JAPAN – the largest manufacturers of SHOCKERS in the world. The company is engaged in the manufacturing of world class Automotive Components such as Front Forks, Rear Shock Absorbers for Motorcycles and scooters & Struts, Window Balancers for Vans and Cars.. He is actively involved in corporate social activities of Educational institute, Hospitals and spiritual & religious institutions. Company is getting special awards for Green Environment and work safety.

“Make in India is a great movement initiated by Honourable Prime Minister of India Mr Narender Modi”. It was undoubtedly a historic declaration made on 68th Independence Day from the red fort of Delhi. The prime objective of this initiative is to ensure GDP growth , create jobs for the youth and enhance skill of the employees to meet gobal demand by focusing on all the 25 sectors of Economy. Some of the major sectors are Automobile, IT, Railways, Design and Manufacturing , Chemical and Textiles, Energy , Electronics, Biotechnology and Mining. For implementation of these projects, he himself with high power Indian team including industrialists visited many countries and campaigned to attract the foreign investment in India . As a result foreign companies like Lavamobiles Spice group, Samsung , Hitachi, Hawaii R & D centre has already started their projects in India by investing millions of dollars.

Creativity, Innovation and resources are abundant in India where we have to tap out those untapped potential for effective utilization and produce world class quality products at lower and competitive cost.

Removal and relaxation of old and outdated policy as well as redtapism with easing out the procedural formalities will definitely encourage FDI in the country.

Fortunately it will be a golden era for Indian business due to remarkable external as well as internal demand of India made commodities. So we have to work on creating the strongest, sustainable verified market we can, which requires rebate in taxation, improvement in infrastructure , 24 hours power supply, improvement in manufacturing efficiency and elimination of redtapism and corruption. By doing these reforms we can achieve an economic growth rate of 8 to 9% where contribution of manufacturing can be 25% against present 16% of GDP.

Human resource is the most precious resource in the world today. India is blessed to have maximum youths population who has proved their capability and potential by contributing in every innovation and discovery recently happening through out the world.

I am sure if the young generation change their mindset and contribute for the growth and development of the motherland , then make in India project will be most successful and will enable India to be a super power very soon.

Mr. Pronab sen

Born 1952 in New Delhi, India. B.A.(Hons) in Economics, University of Delhi (1972); M.B.A. (1974) and M.A. in Economics (1975), George Washington University; Ph.D. in Political Economy (1982), Johns Hopkins University. Management consultant, Washington D.C. (1974-1977). Taught at Johns Hopkins University and Delhi School of Economics (1977-1983). Indian Council for Research in International Economic Relations (1983-1987). Economic Research Unit (1987-1990). World Institute for Development Economics Research, Helsinki (1986/1989). Economic Adviser, Department of Electronics (1990-1994). Principal Adviser, Perspective Planning, Planning Commission (1994-2007). First Chief Statistician of India and Secretary, Ministry of Statistics & Programme Implementation (2007-2010). First Principal Economic Adviser, Planning Commission (2010-2012). Currently Chairman, National Statistical Commission.

What indeed is the trillion dollar question? The “Make in India” slogan is about manufacturing, and the question could well be how soon can Indian manufacturing grow to a size of $ 1 trillion. Most people, and I suspect many economists, would be surprised to learn that the turnover of the Indian manufacturing sector is already well in excess of $ 1 trillion (nearly $1.5 trillion in 2014-15).

“Surely this cannot be correct”, I hear you say. “After all, the entire Indian economy just crossed over the $ 2 trillion mark in 2014-15, as has been widely reported in the papers, and manufacturing is certainly not 75% of the economy.” True enough, but there is really no contradiction at all. The size of an economy is measured by the Gross Domestic Product (GDP), which is actually a measure of value-added and not the value of output. The total value of output in India was just over $ 4 trillion in 2014-15, i.e. double that of GDP. By this measure, the share of the manufacturing sector is 38%.

While this sounds more reasonable, it still does not quite square with the view that manufacturing is a relatively small part of the Indian economy. The figure that most people are familiar with is that manufacturing accounts for 18% of GDP. True again: the share of manufacturing value-added in total value-added (GDP) is indeed 18%. But think of the implication – a sector which accounts for 38% of total value but only 18% of the total value-added must surely be adding relatively little value compared to other sectors of the economy. This is in fact the case: for the economy as a whole the value-added to value of output ratio is 46.5%, while for manufacturing it is a mere 22%. There are some sectors, such as agriculture, financial services, professional services and public administration, where this ratio is significantly above 70%.

Why then all this fuss over manufacturing? Why at all “Make in India”? The answer lies in fact in the 78% of its value which it buys from the other sectors. No othersector has backward linkages which come even remotely close to manufacturing – thus the term ‘engine of growth’. There is no doubt that for sustained rapid growth, manufacturing has to be at the centre of the strategy. But great care needs to be taken in setting targets for the sector either in terms of its growth rate or its share in GDP. In the Indian discourse, targets such as 12% annual growth or a 25% GDP share by 2025 are blithely thrown around without fully exploring its implications, and thereby its feasibility.

Consider first the 12% growth target. It is indeed true that if India is to grow at 9% per annum, manufacturing has to grow at least at 12%. This was conclusively established while designing the Eleventh Five Year Plan. The 25% GDP share in 10 years is consistent with this relationship. For such a target to be achieved, manufacturing growth rate has to be 1.4 times the GDP growth rate. However, it was also noted in the Plan that this level of manufacturing growth cannot be achieved and sustained without exports growing at 20% plus. Why is this so?

Here then is an aphorism: “You earn from the value-added, but you spend on the full value.”

In other words, the answer lies again in the low valueadded ratio in manufacturing. Since the additional income (value-added) generated in the sector can absorb only 20% of its additional output, either all other sectors must generate sufficient surplus income to absorb the rest, or it must be exported. The former is impossible, which leaves the burden of adjustment to the latter. This then raises the real trillion dollar question: “Will the global economy sustain a 20% annual growth of Indian exports?”

Mr. Sridhar Narayanan

Sridhar Narayanan is an Associate Professor of Marketing at the Graduate School of Business at Stanford University. He obtained his PhD from the University of Chicago, an MBA from the Faculty of Management Studies, Delhi and his Bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from Delhi College of Engineering. His research in terests primarily lie in the quantitative study of consumer behavior, and he has studied domains such as online advertising, pharmaceutical marketing and social influences in product adoption behavior. He has taught MBA-level courses on Marketing Strategy, Marketing Analytics and Green Marketing, besides advanced PhD-level courses on quantitative methods in Marketing and in Executive Education programs in the US, Africa and India. He lives in Palo Alto, California with his wife and two young daughters.

After over two and a half centuries in which India’s contribution to the World’s GDP saw a precipitous decline, India is poised on the verge of reclaiming its place as one of the leaders of the world. Since the liberalization of the country’s economy in the 1980s, and its acceleration since the early 1990s, the potential of India has been recognized and has been much talked about. The slide has been arrested, and India’s share of World GDP has steadily and continuously increased for about 25 years now. Yet, while China, with just under 20% of the World’s population now accounts for about 17.5% of its GDP, India accounts for only about 7% of the World’s GDP with about 18% of its population. Is the Indian economy poised to be a leader of the world? What are the opportunities and what are the potential pitfalls along this path?

The first reason to be optimistic about India’s prospects is demographic. Close to half of India’s population is in the productive age group, with the aged accounting for less than 6% of the country’s population. 18% of the population is on the verge of entering the productive age range of 25 years and above. It is generally recognized that a young population, productively employed, can propel dramatic increase in output of a country. The United States benefited from its baby boom, and China dramatically lifted almost its entire population out of poverty starting in the 1980s, benefiting from its own demographic dividend. But in order to make the best of this demographic bonanza that India currently has, it needs to employ this young and aspirational population productively.

This brings us to the first challenge facing India if it is to generate sustained growth over the next few decades. This is of ensuring that there is a healthy, skilled population that can be productively employed. Despite some impressive strides in the recent front on ensuring a literate population, there are some significant gaps on this front. Through programs such as the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan and the mid-day meal scheme, the country has ensured that most of its children attend primary school. There has been an increased emphasis in many states to ensure that girls go through primary education as well. However, there are significant gaps in educational attainment, particularly after the primary stage. Besides that fact that a large number of children drop out after the primary stage, there is a significant increase in the gender gap in the post-primary stage, with more girls dropping out of school than boys. The focus of literacy programs thus needs to shift beyond primary enrollment towards ensuring that all our children stay in school until the age of 14. Beyond enrollment, the big challenge that India has to overcome in the coming few years is to upgrade the quality of its educational
system.

An important factor in ensuring that the country experiences sustained growth over the next few decades is to increase the productivity of its economy. The Chinese economy saw rapid growth in the initial few years after its liberalization starting in the late 1970s through a dramatic improvement in productivity. While India has seen impressive increases in productivity of labour and capital in the years since its own economy was liberalized in the early 1990s, there is tremendous scope for improvement on this front. The growth in productivity of India’s labour and capital remain at about a half to two-thirds that of China, despite starting from a lower base. A variety of factors account for this difference, including the different levels of educational attainment and skill distribution in the two countries, and the infrastructure and governance deficits that the Indian economy faces. Addressing these deficits is necessary for generating the increases in productivity that will generate rapid and
sustained growth in India’s economy.

A third challenge, but also an opportunity facing India is that of managing growth along with the environment. Environmental issues are already very visible in the big cities of India, and they impose significant costs on the growth of the economy through their effects on the health of the population. The effects include premature mortality, as well as lost man-hours due to sickness. A recent World Bank study, for instance estimated the direct and indirect costs of pollution to be about 6% of its GDP every year. Human history has shown that a rapidly growing economy will involve industrialization and urbanization. Providing for shelter, clean air and water and energy for this population will pose significant challenges for the growing Indian economy. However, this also provides an opportunity for India, provided it invests in developing technologies and practices in this area. The issues that India on this front are not unique to the country. The solutions developed in India will find markets not just in India, but also around the world.

This list of the challenges and opportunities faced by India in its quest for growth is not meant to be exhaustive. However, these important issues have one point in common. Addressing these challenges require investment in human capital, particularly in managerial capital. An institution such as the Faculty of Management Studies has in its illustrious history taken a leadership role in this regard, with its unique focus on education of business professionals as well as professionals in areas as public services management and health care administration. By tailoring its programs towards the imperatives of the future, FMS can continue to play a stellar role in taking India towards its destined path of
global leadership.

Dr. Simrit Kaur

Dr. Simrit Kaur is a Professor of Public Policy at the Faculty of Management Studies, University of Delhi, India, where she has been teaching ‘The Economic Theory of a Firm’, ‘Macro Economics’ and ‘Public Policy Reforms’ for over two decades. Nominated by the Indian Council of Cultural Relations, Dr. Kaur has been a ‘Visiting Professor’ at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and a ‘Visiting Scholar’ at Kingston University, London. Dr. Kaur has undertaken several research projects and acted as an advisor to organizations such as the Ministry of Finance, Government of India; the Ministry of Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises, Government of India; the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER), the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations. Her areas of interest include economic freedom, privatization, competition and productivity; agricultural policy; poverty and food security.

Amongst the five large emerging economies, India is the only economy for which the International Monetary Fund did not downgrade its GDP growth targets while providing an update on the World Economic Outlook. Amongst the BRICS nations, Brazil is mired in stagflation; Russia in recession; China in slowdown; and South Africa in structural impediments including inefficiency and corruption. India fortunately is in a cyclical recovery phase. However, the real challenge is in realizing sustainable boom to become a global leader.

India’s macroeconomic fundamentals have improved not just as reflected in cross-country comparisons, but also temporally. Since 2013, inflation has declined to manageable and acceptable levels; the current account deficit too has shriveled; road map to fiscal consolidation has been laid; and foreign portfolio inflows have stabilized the rupee. Resultantly, India’s overall macro-vulnerability index (MVI) that combines a country’s fiscal deficit, current account deficit, and inflation reduced from 22.4 in 2012 to below 15 in fiscal year 2015. While India is still more vulnerable than the mean of countries in its investor rating category (BBB), it is less so than many of its larger emerging market peers. Supplementing MVI with a Rational Investor Ratings Index (RIRI), India ranks amongst the most attractive investment destinations. Amongst BRICS only China ranks above India. The reality and prospect of high and rising growth, combined with macroeconomic stability, is the promise of India going forward.

However formidable challenges exist. Basic infrastructure (roads, railways, ports and power) remains poor; World Bank continues to rank India dismally low, at 142nd out of 189, on ease of doing business; employment elasticity has weakened due to technological advancement; poverty is widespread, and eradicating hunger remains a challenge. While several steps to throw off the shackles of bureaucracy and protectionism were initiated in 1991, and continued since then, still bolder moves are needed. Organized manufacturing needs to be given a boost. India’s labor regulations are among the most restrictive and complex in the world. With a focus on ‘Make in India’, labour law reforms have to gather momentum. Bridging the country’s massive infrastructure deficit is the need of the hour. Reaping the population dividend requires skill development on a massive scale. Education outcomes also need to be improved. As per the ASER (2014) report, basic reading continues to be disheartening as only 50% of Class V students are able to read a Class II textbook; even in class VIII 25% of the students are unable to read Class II textbook.

With respect to subsidies issues of targeting, corruption and leakages remain rampant. For instance, PDS leakages remain large across states. Leakages are significantly larger for wheat (54 percent) than for rice (15 percent). The fiscal cost of these leakages is also large, about INR 18,000 crores for the two food grains. Direct cash transfers, if targeted well, can help the poor and also augment the effectiveness of anti-poverty programs. Use of the JAM Number Trinity (Jan Dhan Yojana, Aadhaar and Mobile numbers) is a step in the right direction as it offers support to poor households in a targeted and less distortive manner.

Fuelled by economic reforms, India is projected to become the world`s fastest growing large economy by 2017, overtaking China as per the World Bank’s Global Economic Prospects Report (2015). Any slackening in the reform momentum could spell disaster in the roadmap for sustainable development and India becoming a global leader. Hopefully, this slowdown will not happen. After all, it is not without reason that IMF refers to India as a ‘Bright Spot’ in the global landscape.

Dr. Mohan Kumar

H.E. Dr. Mohan Kumar is a ranking diplomat of the Indian Foreign Service with experience of over 33 years in a variety of interesting and challenging assignments. Soon after joining the prestigious Indian Foreign Service in 1981, he served as Third Secretary in the Permanent Mission of India in Geneva until 1984 where apart from learning the French language, he familiarized himself with work at the UN. Between 1984 and 1990, he served as Second Secretary and First Secretary in the Indian diplomatic Missions in Morocco and Congo respectively. Both were francophone countries and he was charged with political and commercial relations between India and these countries. Between 1990 and 1992, he served at the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi as the Desk Officer for India’s bilateral relations with Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Maldives.

Allow me to begin on a personal note. In 1981, when I joined the Indian Foreign Service and was posted to Geneva as a negotiator at the UN, Indian diplomats had to “shout” to be “heard”. Three decades later, I am proud to say that Indian diplomats are not only heard with respect when they speak but are actually the most sought after!

It is crucial to understand what brought about this change. To me, the simple explanation is that India’s global reputation and prestige has evolved directly in proportion to its economic growth and development over the last three decades. Therein lies an important lesson. The basic mantra for India’s roadmap to global leadership is : economic strength backed by social cohesion.

In 1992, when I was India’s negotiator at the Uruguay Round of Trade negotiations in Geneva, India’s share of global trade was below one percent, less than that of Nigeria. If despite this, we enjoyed some negotiating clout it was due to the ability of our diplomats and due to the massive potential of the Indian market. The landmark economic reforms undertaken by us in 1991 gradually gave Indian diplomats some negotiating leeway and indeed went a long way in India accepting the results of the Uruguay Round Trade Negotiations.

If India is to exercise global leadership, then its economy has not only to grow at a fast clip but it also has to remain very open to foreign direct investment and crucially, to the latest technology transfer. To some extent, the one depends on the other. The role of the Indian private sector in this is vital. Traditionally, the Indian private sector has argued against state monopolies but has not unconditionally favoured opening up our economy to foreign firms and investment. This has changed in recent times, but in my view the change has neither been fast nor is it irreversible. There are still voices in our industry which ague against foreign firms and investment, even when it is desirable for the Indian consumer and the economy.

Three things are therefore imperative and the Indian Industry has an important role to play in this. One, the need to make our economy globally competitive which can happen only if there is competition from abroad with the latest technology and business practices. Two, the need for economic growth to be “inclusive”. In this regard, the last general elections in May was perhaps the first time in history that Indians “cast their vote rather than vote their caste”!! Development was such an important theme in the last elections that the whole world sat up and took notice of “Sab Ka Saath, Sab Ka Vikaas”. Lastly, we must continue to be the hub for global innovation, be it IT or pharma.

One final point. Regardless of high growth, latest technology transfer and a globally competitive economy, India still needs to maintain strong internal, social cohesion. Our Constitution provides in great detail how this can be achieved. All we have to do is to follow the Indian Constitution in both letter and spirit at all times ad especially when in doubt.

India’s global leadership will be decided in the coming period whether it is climate change negotiations, WTO negotiations or indeed at the Conference on Disarmament. In all these multilateral fora, India’s leadership will be determined by adhering to principles, ethics and national interest. But global leadership is ultimately dependent on negotiating clout and that comes with economic strength, social cohesion and strong political leadership. I am convinced that we have all these three in abundance today.

India, with a myriad religions, ethnicities and languages is both a puzzle and a marvel to outsiders. As Indians, we can be legitimately proud of the political and economic strides made by our great nation. But the journey has just begun. And there are miles to go before we can rest.

Milind Pant

Milind Pant has lived and worked in India, South Africa and Thailand. Currently, he is based at Shanghai. Milind is the President & COO of YUM China

In a USD 75 trillion world economy, India with almost 20% of global population has just over 2% contribution. On the other hand China, in the last three decades, has turbo charged growth to become 5X the size of the Indian economy. For all of India’s strengths, size, accomplishments, it remains a country that has punched well below it’s potential.
It is a mathematical certainty that in the coming decade India will become one of the exciting, fast growing large economies. This article presents seven ‘sutras’ or threads of thoughts on the ingredients required for India’s quest for global leadership:

1. Magnet for global capital, technology

The world is awash with capital. Brazil, Russia, South Africa (of BRICS) are sputtering. Global investment funds are on the lookout for the next growth market. In parallel, global companies are scanning the horizon for a low cost manufacturing alternative to China. Vietnam, Thailand are options but India has a much larger labor pool (& growing). It also has the bonus of a large domestic market, strong foundation in engineering, management talent plus a proven track record in adapting, developing new technology.
As India becomes an easier place to do business; with stable policy, tax and currency, it is destined to become a magnet for global capital, ideas, technology.

2. Achieve global scale

Global leadership requires global scale. In the Fortune 500, among the top 10, there are two American and three Chinese companies. China’s ICBC is the largest bank in the world by assets. For India, achieving global scale may require some deft pragmatism. Some of India’s largest companies- SBI, ONGC, Coal India, NTPC are state owned and need to be unleashed to build global capabilities, competitiveness and eventually scale.
In addition, India’s private sector has the platform of a large domestic market which, coupled with access to global capital and smart overseas acquisitions, has the potential to build world class companies.

3. Build iconic brands

Today, there is no Indian brand in the Interbrand Top 100 global list. Iconic brands are built on the foundation of great products. India has the potential to build big businesses, brands in new sectors likeDigital and the ones with distinct ‘Indianness’ such as movies, food, fashion. After all, five years back, it was unthinkable for Xiaomi, Huawei, Taobao, WeChat, Haier to embark on a quest to build global Chinese brands.

4. Turbo charged urbanization

China’s development in the last three decades has been driven by planned urbanization — adding 1% of urban population every year. Today, 55% of China’s population lives in cities that are connected with high speed bullet trains and highways.
India with its democratic credentials, inclusive society can lead the world with innovation in urban development, management and local government accountability. In China and America, city mayors compete for attracting businesses. Chengdu, a city in western, inland China claims to be the home of 230 Fortune 500 companies. Michael Bloomberg, one of America’s most celebrated entrepreneurs, ran NYC for a decade.

5. Nurture world class universities, technology labs

During the Gupta dynasty, some of the world’s best institutes of learning were in India. Before WWII, some of the top universities were in Germany. Today, the best ones are predominantly American. Silicon Valley has a symbiotic relationship with the web of universities in and around San Francisco.

None of India’s institutes feature in Top 10 or even 100. In order to be a global leader, IISc, IITs and FMS will need to step up to attract global faculty, students, private funds and a culture of restless creativity.

6. Innovate with social entrepreneurship

India cannot aspire to economic greatness with a fourth of India’s population below the (USD 1.25 per day) poverty line. On most of the Millennium Development Goal, India remains a laggard. The opportunity is for India to be a world leader in Social entrepreneurship — innovating new business models in nutrition, sanitation, education, agriculture, banking and more.

7. New model of local accountability

Despite all the above ingredients, India can ‘trip’ on its journey to economic greatness without fundamentally transforming the micro part of the government bureaucracy — the one that touches the everyday life of every entrepreneur. The district (akin to Swiss ‘canton’) is the smallest unit of administration in India. District administration must be accountable to all entrepreneurs (in fact, all citizens) to provide timely licensing, inspections, efficient services, utilities, maintenance of infrastructure — all with digital enabled transparency, accountability.

In modern times, China has had the fastest per capita GDP growth of 30X in the last 30 years! Now the stars are aligned for India’s marathon to economic greatness with disciplined planning, pragmatism and flawless execution of the seven ‘sutras’.

Mr. Pravin Malhotra

“Pravin Malhotra is Chairman and Managing Director of Nipman Fastener Industries Pvt. Ltd. His company has been repeatedly acknowledged for world class practices & has won several national awards. He has been on the Executive Committee at Auto Components Manufacturing Association (ACMA) & has participated in several international business delegations . He has also served as Assistant Governor Rotary District 3010 & President, Rotary Club of Noida.”

The 16th of May 2014 was a historic day in the history of modern India. The Indian citizenry put it’s faith behind a man for his track record and historic performance. The process was almost equivalent to shareholders pushing up a divisional head to be CEO of their conglomerate.

This CEO, our honorable Prime Minister immediately started travelling worldwide – not only making the India flag fly high but also attracting foreign manufacturers to invest in India. Prime Minister Modi definitely understands the 4 Ps of marketing – he started an aggressive campaign called “Make in India”, selling his vision to the biggest of corporates in the world. It is a tribute to his vision that the Taiwanese manufacturer Foxconn committing to a 5 Billion Dollar investment in India.

While the external image has been worked on, we are also seeing some strong intent on the domestic front. The Goods and Services Tax – which for years has been in the pipeline has been brought to the forefront with a commitment by the government to have it implemented by April 2016.

India today not only has a population above a billion, but is also the world’s youngest demography – with 356 million 10 to 24 year olds who would future assets of this nation in an otherwise aging world. A population that would be a dynamic working population in times to come! In addition, with an aggregate population of above 1.2 billion, India also promises to be a big market which any company would ignore only at it’s own risk!

Flexible labour laws, something that was considered too adventurous to talk about have become a reality today. This, thanks to India’s federal structure with states competing for investments – and Rajasthan showing the way in this area! Our Prime Minister has been a Chief Minister in the past – he would be perfect in understanding the power of a federal structure encouraging states to compete with each other in
attracting investments which would eventually lead to employment!

If one does look at the larger picture, the India of today has the resources and the manufacturing units to efficiently use these resources. The India of today also has the consumer base to identify markets for these resources – a dream land for investors to tap in!

Recently, Google appointed Sundar Pichai as it’s CEO. With Satya Nadella running Microsoft and now Pichai running Google, we don’t need a better endorsement
of the power of the Indian mind. With a PM aggressively pushing forward the ‘Make in India’ campaign, and India leading the way in demographic and intellectual
excellence answers are coming easily for the Trillian Dollar Question on Make in India