The Blueprint For Success
The Economic Advisory Council to Prime Minister (EAC-PM) has released the ‘Competitiveness Roadmap for India@100’. The agenda was launched at a grand event and the roadmap was released by Dr Bibek Debroy, Chairman EAC-PM, Amitabh Kant, Sherpa, G20, and saw the participation of Sanjeev Sanyal, Member, EAC-PM and Christian Ketels, Professor at Harvard Business School. The roadmap stands to inform and guide the way for India to become a higher-income country by 2047.
The origin of ‘India Competitiveness Initiative’ lies in a conversation between Professor Michael Porter and Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2017. The idea behind this report is to enhance prosperity and provide a better life for the citizens of India.
This initiative is a product of collaboration between EAC-PM, and the Institute for Competitiveness, which is an international initiative centred in India, headed by Dr Amit Kapoor. The report also saw inputs from Professor Michael Porter and Dr Christian Ketels of Harvard Business School, USA. Additionally, Dr Nitin Nohria, former Dean, Harvard Business School played a key role in providing the final touches to the report.
“The growth journey that India has traversed over the last seven decades has not been simply fortuitous. It is a result of carefully sown seeds of policy reforms and sector-specific action goals embedded in the vision of equitable development and enhancing the lives of the people in the country,” says the report. This idea of sector-specific action is the fulcrum of India@100 report. Not only this, there is also a seed for inter-ministerial coordination. This is the need of the hour, where we are not just trying to climb the ranks of Ease of Doing Business index, but want to become a trail blazer when it comes to achieving net zero carbon footprint.
The ball is in India’s court, where we must pay careful heed to the recommendations of this report. We are at a stage where our human resource is our greatest advantage. The goal now must be to utilise our youthful population, by providing them the right economic opportunity to enter the workforce, while aligning them with India’s global ambitions. These job opportunities must provide an entry point to the youth to build and grow successful careers across fields, and not just as a means of temporary employment. It is only when these factors are considered cohesively that we can imagine a country with all its agendas achieved. This report provides not just local, but also global perspectives to achieve the same. India@100 is a product of analysing over 150 reports, interacting with n number of stakeholders and multiple sessions of brainstorming over the years.
The Launch
The India@100 report launch was addressed by all the participants, who shed light on the framing of the report. "True change comes from the mind. We have to create a roadmap for changing time, flexibility should be the priority. Our proposals are to change the thinking across the government. We all have to understand our place in this puzzle, which is the key challenge for competitiveness upgrading,” noted Ketels.
The report lays clear policy goals and principles and shows the way to drive India’s economy towards sustainability while promoting inclusivity. The roadmap presents an integrated agenda of prioritised initiatives based on a thorough examination of India’s present economic state and competitive advantages.
Building on the many reforms the government has enacted over recent years, it addresses both, what actions India needs to prioritise now and how it needs to organise itself to deliver these actions effectively. The idea is to work on shared prosperity, this includes job creation, gender equality, and fair income distribution. The agenda for the India@100 report is to address these issues. To achieve this feat, the leaders at the discussion proposed cross-sectoral collaboration, which is the need of the hour.
Source: India@100 Report
The highlight of the event was a panel discussion on ‘The Next Big Step’, addressing the audience, Director, India Country Office, BMGF, Hari Menon spoke on change driven by philanthropy, “There are four broad areas relevant for philanthropic foundations, one is shared prosperity and inclusive social progress, second is relative silos between social and economic actors, third is to selectively develop some special sectors we already have strengths in, for example, pharmaceuticals, digitisation, etc. and risk-taking in philanthropy.”
Adding to the discussion, Sumanth Sinha, CEO, Renew Power, said, “In terms of climate change the message is loud and clear to corporates that we have to mend our ways. We have to bring in civil society as well to bring about a change. The 450GW renewable aim of the government is not going to be enough, our demand will be more.” There is however global pressure to decarbonise, which will also promote green hydrogen.
The “Roadmap for Better Growth – India@100” is a product vision of Prime Minister Modi’s vision of pushing India towards a path that ensures India becomes a middle-income country by 2047. Given the gusto and enthusiasm with which this report has been publicised makes it even more important that India pays heed to its suggestions. We have to be prepared to look at the flaws and findings with a critical eye, while taking in the suggestions in a positive manner.
