Virendra Pandit
New Delhi: Amid the raging third wave of Covid-19 and fears of its negative impact on the Indian economy, which is still recovering from the second wave, Tata Sons chairperson N.Chandrasekaran sent out a glimmer of hope on Tuesday, saying India will lead the global growth rates significantly in this decade as the economy fully opens up post-pandemic.
He also cautioned the government: its priorities must be on nationwide access to healthcare and education. The government can focus on policymaking, but India Inc. will also have to play its role. “Access to healthcare and education should become a national priority.”
The pandemic has not really affected the long-term growth trajectory of the Indian economy, he said at Microsoft India’s annual flagship event Microsoft Future Ready.
“It (pandemic) has just delayed it because the fundamental factors- whether it is the formalization of the economy, the youth or more people coming into the middle-income group, all of this is totally intact. Also, the policy reforms before the pandemic, during and now that is happening, are all going to be tailwinds.”
“I feel India has a larger role to play. There are many things going on in India. Post-pandemic, as the economy fully opens up, I believe our growth will continue to get stronger. We’ll get the full benefit of consumer spending. My assessment is that in this decade, India will lead the global growth rates significantly,” he added.
Chandrasekaran called for full support to innovation, entrepreneurship, start-ups, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), and the global supply chain. “The global supply chain must be reconstructed. India has an important role to play because of the skills and the opportunities that we have at scale. It will be a big economic opportunity.”
Although Covid-19 meant acceleration in certain aspects, like digital transformation and acceptance of a digital way of life, this adoption has not been fair. While the urban kids, having access to tech devices and digital infrastructure, could go online for education during the lockdowns. most of their counterparts in rural areas could not. “It is a big problem. And they are the last taught. We have lost at least a couple of years for these people,” he added.
“India has the mindset to build platforms at scale, at a cheaper transaction cost. So, I don’t think that the scale and cost would be the issue. What will be the issue though, is how do you make AI and ML relevant for everyone? The view that AI and ML are software people’s jobs, or AI and ML is for the elite, should go.”