ET Global Business summit: On final day, a call for speedier change

NEW DELHI: The Indian economy remains in a sweet spot against the backdrop of a gloomy global economy but the pace of reforms should be accelerated to ensure it realises its full potential and is on the path to double-digit growth.
This consensus emerged at the two-day ET Global Business summit which attracted top global and domestic investors and a battery of policymakers who unveiled the government's reforms agenda.
“A lot of programmes have been announced but they don't move at the pace they are required to. I agree that things need to be done. Let's do it,“ L&T president S N Subrahmanyan said.
Global risk analysts and author of the blockbuster Black Swan, Nassim Nicholas Taleb said India's problem was its “metastatic bureaucracy“. “It is not so much corruption but fixers who slow down India,“ Taleb said.
Day Two of the summit witnessed a lively discussion on the government's three key focus areas -financial inclusion, Make in India and Digital India.
Communications and IT minister Ravi Shankar Prasad highlighted the government's plan to take IT services to the masses leveraging the post office network and setting up rural BPOs. Rural connectivity seemed to be on the mind of corporate India too. WIPRO chief strategy officer Rishad Premji detailed plans to invest and develop more software for the rural masses, even as Google India head Rajan Anandan backed affordable Internet access.
On Make in India too, costs were under the spotlight. “We can't unleash India's manufacturing till we become cost competitive. India's unique strength is its huge skill of frugal engineering and for India to become cost competitive our productivity must rise,“ DIPP secretary Amitabh Kant said.
Railways minister Suresh Prabhu, however, said that given the comparative advantages and the strong global tailwinds India's manufacturing sector stood to benefit.
At the summit there were animated discussions on digital disruption. Management guru Ram Charan urged businesses to have a clear blue print and redraw corporate structure before moving forward on digitsation.