FSS-LIBA Insight’10, the fifth edition of the LIBA Insight series deliberates on how Innovation is the only runway to India’s journey to the top.
In the early 2005, Goldman Sachs study predicted that by the year 2050, India will be the 4th largest economy with a GDP of $ 27,803 billion after China ($ 44,453 bil), EU ($ 35,288 bil) and the US (35,165). The current order of merit is the US leading with $ 13,271 bil, followed by the EU ($ 12, 965 bil), Japan ($ 4,601 bil) and China ($ 2,998 bil). India presently is the 7th with a not so appealing $ 929 bil. Even at 2050, India appears to be a minor player holding just under 20% among the top four.
Is a fourth place enough? How will India reach the top among the comity of nations? How will we be the wealthiest nation that we were in the first millennium? A good old saying is that if we do what we have always done, we will get what we have always gotten. That is true for a nation on its path to the top. How can we think differently? How can we outsmart the current favourites?
When we take a deep look at the present state of our economy it is remarkable for its inadequate infrastructure, power, communication, education, healthcare and food security. The resource situation too is not appealing either: depleting natural resources, difficult access to cheap and reliable finance, scarce employable pool of talent, and archaic technology, poor record of research and development, etc. Overlay this with several other social issues such as increasing wealth divide, skewed development and consequential civil unrest, corruption, exploding population, environmental abuse, etc.
It is not that our record of recent growth and development is not noteworthy. However, the growth still appears to be powered by a western agenda and rules of the game. We still do not have many fortune 100 firms. Neither do we have one Indian brand that is a global powerhouse.
The chances that we will get to the top appear grim. But it is indeed a half glass full and the other half filled with optimism. There are some signs of India Inc. making waves globally. For example Mahindra and Mahindra have forayed into the US market with high-quality yet cost effective tractors. Or the young Tata Nano that is likely to disrupt the hegemony of global auto-players. Or Narayana Hrudayalaya has a world-class heart bypass surgery by re-engineering its process in healthcare. Or consider Reliance Industries’ Jamnagar grass-roots refinery project that is the largest in the world. Are these sufficient? Do we have it in our DNA to excel?
Indians individually are making big waves here and abroad. For instance Pranav Mistry and his Sixth Sense seems game changer in the computing world. Seema Prakash and her Glass Bead Liquid Culture Technology appear to provide manifold increase in farm output. Several US, European and Asia-pacific universities are manned by key scientists of Indian origin. So are several research and development units of governments and major corporations such as NASA or IBM.
It is not that the NH 2050 to the top can be laid by any one stakeholder. The government, the society at large, the business houses, NGO’s and universities, all have a role to play. But more important and perhaps significant is the role of businesses.
Steve Jobs comments that innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. Most entrepreneurs and corporate planners believe that if India is to be a leader businesses have to innovate. A few believe in incremental innovation while others are calling for some radical thinking. Innovation, the vital spark of all human changes, improvement and progress, has to be pervasive. It should lay a bed of thinking that makes see changes as an opportunity and not a threat. Innovation is the bedrock that converts challenges across industries such as healthcare, education, food, roads, dams, power, banking, insurance, retailing, telecommunications, IT, manufacturing etc., to an opportunity. We require innovation in all management functions such as in marketing, finance, human resources, operations and processes, IT management, logistics and supply chain management, etc. We ought to be searching purposefully for the sources of innovation and techniques to apply that innovation successfully if we want to reach the top. Innovations have to be big, radical and game changing.
How can we outthink China that has chosen manufacturing as its path? How can we outthink the US and the EU that have several years of first mover advantage? Is it enough that we are recognized as a power with some reckoning in the IT sector or should it be all pervasive? How can we ensure that domestic markets are better services across geography and diverse people?
Do we have to master and exploit our domestic markets before we cross borders or can we simultaneously target multiple global markets? Is it appropriate to have a skewed development on our rush to the top or should it be inclusive? Can we be the best with the current climate of nurturing entrepreneurship?
What do the business powerhouses of India have in store for this dream?
In the fifth edition of the Insight symposium, we have chosen to deliberate on how business houses in (sectors) are gearing to be a part of the team that lays the NH2050 to the top.
