Telecom,Civil aviation and Information technology sectors are babies of great years when economic liberalisation begun. PV Narasimha Rao, the then Indian prime minister, along with our current PM Manmohan Singh started making un-conventional moves towards shaping the economic destiny of India. This provided cheer and excitement and often resulted in debates on lunch tables, coffee shops and college addas. 16 years passed since and honestly no body would have guessed we would have reached thus far. Yet, the irony is there is so much more to do and achieve.... only goes to prove the opportunity for growth that lies in this land of gold. As many experts and eminent personalities have noted, we are doing well on the economic growth front but need to focus on sustaining this growth and make it inclusive. Infrastructure (to sustain and support the growth) and realigning priorities (to achieve equitable distribution of development and wealth) will put India firmly on growth track as envisioned by President Kalam.
Legend has it that, until 16th century India has been land of riches. Successive invaders have thrived on India's natural bounty for over five centuries. India endured it all and has worked her way into modern era, building strengths such as strong democratic set up, robust and transparent financial infra structure and of course a burgeoning intellectual capital. Future probably will make boundaries irrelevant. Common currencies, free trade regimes, fewer visa restrictions, multi cultural and multi racial work places & neighbourhoods may be there than ever before. Technology and Economics will shape the contours of our future and it is for this reason India stands at a terrific advantage. Politically, India has been a peace loving nation(she has never invaded any country ever) and demography wise it will be one of the youngest countries in the world in the future. These factors position India in a situation to leverage the advantages ushered by Technology and Economics.
India might also rank top on the list of paradoxes. With illiteracy, corruption & poverty being key concerns one might wonder why every one wants to go there for business. As India's Union government has rightly identified, unless equitable distribution of growth happens, development and any other form of growth would not help the larger part of India. 70% of the country depends on the agriculture and it hardly contributes to GDP growth. The agrarian practices, access to resources and associated political issues plague the already languishing agricultural sector. The result is often mass exodus to urban centers. Innovative solutions suiting Indian context and sentiments need to be developed to rev up the growth in this sector. Contract farming could be one such solution.
I wonder what does it take to actively push contract farming in India. The model can involve large companies who can afford capital & technology, warehouses/cold-chains, logistical infrastructure and have easy access to markets, to partner with farming community. Farmers lease the land and become key stake holders in the business and may or may not play an active role in day to day operations. Issues such as communication barriers, motivated political interests etc will be challenges to over come. I believe business can be a force that can improve society, people and their lives for ever, if it based on certain values and ethos. Contract farming, if facilitated by suitable policy changes by government, amply supported by collective political will and trusted by farming community could be yet another opportunity for some business houses to enable wealth creation that is owned by large number of stake holders. ITC, Reliance, Tata & Godrej are few companies I reckon who would some day get into this space.
Urban infrastructure such as roads, mass transport system, public works, airports etc needs to go a long way before it can lay claims to be supporting India's economy growth. Bangalore often reminds me of a city which has become a victim of its own growth. Whether it is the time required to reach from one place to another or just the amount of pollution, the city sucks ! On the other hand, projects such as Delhi Metro just prove that well conceived, planned and executed urban development projects(UDP) can change people lives for good. In Delhi, Metro has crashed the travel time of people thereby increasing people productivity, substantially dropped the pollution levels and minimised traffic congestion. I am sure there would be fewer road accidents as well. Public private partnerships could be one approach to creating more and more UDPs such as Delhi Metro.
In the recent past, I have visited Hungary & Poland and was pleasantly surprised by the infra structure in an eastern block country. For the un-initiated, Hungary along with other eastern European countries such as Poland are witnessing a steep economy growth, thanks to its talented demography and low relative wages. Hungary's infrastructure though better than India's, was not ready to support the country's growth, a few years ago. My guide clarified that the country has opened infrastructure to foreign companies for FDI and many projects mushroomed on BOT model over a long term 15-20 years. I saw French & other European infrastructure companies building Stadiums, flyovers, roads etc in Budapest. Believe me its over five years now and both the parties are very happy with the way its is going. I think in the current phase that India is in, this model could be very useful. With massive requirements of investments in infrastructure needed(over $200 billion over next five years, I am told), this could be a synergistic opportunity for both participating companies as well as for India. The tricky part is in getting the right policies and approvals, environment management (no body wants another Singur) and keeping it transparent for general public on matters related to money, time and quality of infrastructure.
I am sure it will be a matter of time before solutions such as above would take shape and get deployed. They are already due, for India desperately needs more equitable wealth distribution and infrastructure that can be billed truly world class tailored to meet India's needs. If great leaders such as Mahatma Gandhi and others have freed India from foreign rule, the current generation has an opportunity to free India from ills of poverty, illiteracy & corruption, for good. I can see the action very clearly and here is where I want to belong and lead.
Jai Hind.
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