‘Cosmust think beyond sops, be competitive’
NEW DELHI: India Inc must think outside the regime of incentives and subsidies and improve its competitiveness and productivity while ramping up research and development (R&D) expenditure for being future ready, Confederation of Indian Industry president TV Narendran said on Wednesday.
A responsible and conscious industry must think beyond its own priorities to drive positive change for the nation, Narendran said at the ‘Being Future Ready Business Summit 2022’.
Recalibration of global supply chains presents an opportunity for the industry to embed itself more firmly in the international arena and expand its global footprint, he pointed out.
“We must move away from a risk-averse culture to a mindset that proactively explores all markets and all sectors. The many new free trade agreements being signed with our key market partners open up immense opportunities for our international engagement and we must support and leverage these to the optimum,” Narendran said.
The CII president called upon industry to focus on building competitiveness through workforce skilling, innovation, quality and sustainability.
“It is absolutely essential for industry to ramp up R& D expenditure for being future ready. The Indian industry’s share in total R&D spend in India is 37%, against 80% in South Korea, and 77% in China. Further, industry collaboration with academia and research institutions on R&D is critical,” he said.
CII president designate Sanjiv Bajaj spoke at length on how the industry must prepare for ‘India@100’, when the country completes a century of its Independence from British Rule in 2047. An important area that will define the future of the industry is its engagement with the needs of society and the community, he said.
The digital revolution, including fintech and e-commerce is creating immense opportunities for the Indian industry, which would make it future ready to cater to community needs, Bajaj said. All this will be an integral part of the India@100 agenda, he said.
CII vice president Pawan Munjal spoke on the issue of sustainability and the role of industry in reducing the carbon footprint. Industry has played a significant role in promoting renewable energy and energy efficiency, he said.
Lot of opportunities are being created in green mobility, renewable energy, circular economy, and green hydrogen. Electric vehicles are driven by new policies to improve efficiencies. Indian companies should take a strong position in assessing global markets, he said.