India’s moment

THE prediction that the next ten years are going to present India’s golden moment in key sectors, was made quite some time ago, and reiterated by many futuristic thinkers, the latest being Mr. M.R. Rangaswami, a Silicon Valley entrepreneur, venture capitalist and philanthropist. Factually, he was only endorsing the opinion of many others, indicating a growing global confidence in India’s ability to evolve as an international economic powerhouse, the early footprints of which are already visible. This possible scenario has been building up for the past some time.

Slowly but surely, India was building its economic prowess in most sectors, thanks to its superior technological manpower spreading across sectors. A very heartening factor operating in India was an increasingly finer cooperation between the Government and various sectors of activity over a sustained period. This consistency became a point of attraction for foreign direct investors whose cumulative contribution is over USD 20 billion.

Over the next ten years, this investment is slated to grow exponentially, as many experts surmise. Experts also attach much importance to India’s massive efforts in the digital area, which has created a fresh attraction for global operators as it suggests a better smoothness in handling of the computational issues. Most global companies -- like Amazon or Google, for example -- that have shown active interest in investing massive sums of money in India have reportedly felt at home operating in India simply because of the technological advantage India has over many other countries. Operating out of Silicon Valley, Mr. Rangaswami -- like many others -- has an added advantage to ‘see’ India in the right light. His Indian roots add a special value to his assessment of India is capable of.

And he represents a whole class of people who have had the benefit of having been educated in India before moving to Silicon Valley. These people understand India in and out and are confident that in due time, India will become a far better investment destination than any other Asian country. Nobody can underestimate the value of this assessment. Another non-Indian factor helping India in this assessment is China. Given the latest political dynamics operating in China, given the widespread international belief that the coronavirus was a Chinese ‘gift’ to the world, given Beijing’s aggressiveness for no cause, a lot of multinational corporates are moving out of China.

India has been a direct beneficiary of these development, as many corporate entities the world over having operations in China, have shown eagerness to bail out of that country and seek other asylums, India being the strongest of all such possible places. In the past couple of years, a lot of MNCs have moved out of China and preferred to set shop in India for obvious multiple reasons. Better political atmosphere in India is also one of the reasons of attraction to global companies to choose the country for their operations.

No matter who is ruling from the White House, the overall American approach to India has been favourable and is promising to remain so for many more years to come. But this favourable twist -- not just in America but also elsewhere -- has not come out of political whim. It is an outcome of patient approach adopted by India in building economic prowess especially in the past 5-6 years. True, India had always had many positive aspects to its economic story. But all those points were put to best use in the past 5-6 years, couple by assertiveness in diplomacy and pushing Indian interests. The assessment by many experts of India’s growing economic capabilities and ever-improving ease-of-doing-business, thus, stands on a firm ground of actual performance. Add to this the details of how India handled its economic challenge in the coronavirus crisis, and one arrives at a much better picture of the Indian scene. All these factors have added much value to India as the future global economic powerhouse, which reflect so easily in international assessment.