Sectoral policies being drawn up
Mukesh Ambani, Asia's second- richest man, on Friday said that India's GDP will double to USD 5 trillion in the next seven years and hit USD 10 trillion by 2030, as it will elbow out China by the middle of 21st century. Speaking at the HT Leadership Summit in the capital, Ambani, Chairman and MD of Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL), recalled that he in 2004 had predicted that India -- then a USD 500-billion economy -- will get to the mark of USD 5 trillion in 20 years.
"Today, that prediction seems certain. Indeed, it will be achieved well before 2024," he said, adding that the Indian economy will triple to USD 7 trillion in the next 10 years to become the third-largest economy in the world. He went on to say that by 2030, it can cross the USD 10 trillion milestone, and India can "most certainly" become the most prosperous nation in the world overtaking the US and China within this century.
"By the middle of the 21st century, India's rise will be higher than China's rise. And more attractive to the world," Ambani asserted. "India will provide a superior and different development model (which) creates equitable and inclusive growth based on technology, democracy, good governance and a society-wide culture of empathy."
Delivering a talk on the theme 'India will become a global economic leader', Ambani said the first Industrial Revolution used coal and steam power to mechanise physical activity, the second used electricity and oil for mass production and distribution and the third used electronics and IT to increase productivity and automation. According to Ambani, while India remained on the fringe in the first two industrial revolutions, it started catching up in the computer-driven third revolution. But "the Fourth Industrial Revolution is now upon us. The foundation of this revolution is connectivity, computing, data and artificial intelligence," he said. "It's my firm conviction that India can not only participate in the 4th Industrial Revolution, but has the opportunity to be a leader."
What manufacturing was for China, super intelligence will be for India, the RIL chief predicted. "We have the opportunity to not only rapidly grow our own economy, but also be the provider of intelligent services to the rest of the world," he added. Ambani listed out Aadhaar as the largest and the most sophisticated, biometric ID system, and the launch of 104 satellites with a single rocket as examples of India's prowess.
On Reliance, he said that five years ago, when most Indian businesses were investing outside India, it decided to put in about USD 60 billion in India. "We have nearly completed this investment cycle. We are now ready to commit even more in our next investment cycle," he said, without sharing details. This is being done on "undiminished conviction that India is the biggest investment opportunity in the world". The Indian government is working towards drawing up policies for various sectors of the economy, to be able to increase their business that would, in aggregate, result in higher GDP growth, Commerce Minister Suresh Prabhu said on Friday. Addressing the National Retail Summit organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Prabhu said that in recent days, he had been consulting stakeholders from several sectors like pharma, IT, gold and jewellery, and the retail trade in this regard.
"We are in the process of drawing up policies for each of the sectors of the economy on how to increase their business and market. The aggregate effect of each of the sectors growing would add to our GDP (gross domestic product)," Prabhu said. Informing the audience that he had met with IT industry body Nasscom and with Biocon Chairperson Kiran Mazumdar Shaw, Prabhu said the latter had spoken of $100 billion worth of business being achievable by the Indian pharma and biotech industry. "At the Gold Council event, I said let us target $25-30 billion worth of gold jewellery exports in the next few years. We are in the process of identifying the ways of helping each sector grow. As Commerce Minister it is my responsibility that any business should grow... it will add to the country's GDP," he added.
Noting that retail is the fulcrum of growth for all sectors - agriculture, manufacture, services - Prabhu said it could only flourish in partnership with other areas of economic life. "The final cutting edge of manufacturing for customers will only come through retail, which also creates backward linkages for agriculture. If we can create a good supply chain in India, it will immensely benefit customers," he said, adding that almost 30 per cent of all food and vegetables in the country are lost owing to a lack of proper storage facilities. Prabhu also noted that e-commerce is a new dimension in the marketplace. "If we create a platform for e-commerce... have a virtual marketplace, it will create major opportunities to expand business and employment."