BS Manthan: Trade policy aligned with development trajectory, says Goyal
Union Minister Piyush Goyal on the second and last day of Business Standard Manthan, Thursday in New Delhi (Photo: Priyanka Parashar)
Dismissing concerns over protectionism, Minister for Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution and Textiles Piyush Goyal said India’s trade policy was calibrated and was in line with the country’s development journey. He spoke on the second and last day of the first edition of Business standard‘s annual summit, Business Manthan, in New Delhi on Thursday.
Goyal’s view on India’s tariff approach echoed that of Union Finance Minister Niramala Sitharaman at the summit a day earlier.
Hosted at Bharat Mandapam, the venue of last year’s G20 Summit, to celebrate Business standardMarking its 50th year, the event brought together leading personalities from across the spectrum: ministers, diplomats, economists, entrepreneurs, luxury traders, sustainability champions, agricultural experts, multinational leaders and many more.
Stressing that India, as a developed country, needed a thoughtful trade relationship with the world, Goyal said there was also a need for internationalization of the economy.
Amitabh Kant, G20 Sherpa and former CEO Niti Aayog, stuck to the theme of the summit, “A Developed India by 2047: The Roadmap”, and put forward the idea of “champion states” – those who are agents of transformation. He also said India needed many more Ambanis, Adanis and Tatas – a reference to big companies. He said this should make a passionate plea for the growth of manufacturing if India wanted to achieve its goal as a developed nation.
Kant also provided an insider’s view into the dogged efforts needed to build consensus amid a conflicted world at the G20 summit. On Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy’s suggestion that youth should work 70 hours a week, Kant noted: “What matters is not the number of hours you work, but the results you deliver.” When asked if he would consider entering politics, he immediately and emphatically replied, “I am not suited for politics.”
Meanwhile, cooperative federalism was discussed on a thread in a scintillating debate between two noted economists – Arvind Subramanian, former chief economic adviser to the Union government, and Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former vice-chairman of the Planning Commission.
The two dissected the contours of the “central state relations required for India’s successful journey towards 2047”. Arenas of contestation in budgetary federalism were seized. Subramanian said India needed a mix of cooperative federalism and competitive federalism.
Ahluwalia said cooperative federalism is crucial and needs to be better managed. He advocated that state governments should decentralize resources to the sub-state level.
Earlier in the day, leading foreign policy voices unraveled the Chinese challenge. In a conversation with former Foreign Secretary Shyam Saran, Shivshankar Menon, former National Security Advisor, and Nalin Surie, former Indian High Commissioner to Britain, said India had to chart its own path, focusing on its key economic strengths, in instead of trying to copy the Chinese model. This was crucial if India was to shake off the Western world’s image as a Plus One for China.
The future of how India would travel was looked at from the vision of RC Bhargava, chairman of Maruti Suzuki and the man synonymous with India’s small car revolution and later the all-car revolution. “By 2047, we should have a much higher percentage of cleaner cars across India – perhaps all of them,” he said.
The craze for large vehicles, he predicted, would soon be over. “The world will realize that you don’t really need such big cars,” he said. On electric vehicles (EVs), he said, “Not just EVs, we need to leverage all green technologies, including biogas, to achieve India’s net zero targets.”
Speaking of the future, the startup ecosystem, known to predict and harness the potential of emerging trends, appeared to be in good strength at the time Business Standard Summit.
Reflecting on the transformation he has seen in the business ecosystem in the four decades since he started working, Sanjeev Bikhchandani, often described as the father of Indian startups, said a lot of change came from companies that barely existed when he started . These ranged from mobile telephony to e-commerce. Much of this change has been driven by startups, says the co-founder of internet company Info Edge and the entrepreneur behind job portal Naukri.com.
In the coming years, he said, change would be driven by the same five factors: “regulation, technology, capital, entrepreneurship and talent.”
Manish Tiwary, vice president and India manager of Amazon, said he was optimistic about the Indian market and said there is no better country than India for any company operating in the technology sector. Meanwhile, Rajesh Magow, co-founder and group CEO of MakeMyTrip, advised those looking to start a business to “take a very long-term view”. On the issue of a funding winter, he said: “I don’t think there is a shortage of capital. More questions – and the right kinds of questions – are being asked in the financing market, and that is a good thing.”
Where does that leave agriculture as the country focuses on services and manufacturing? Agri experts discussed this in detail, with Ramesh Chand, member of agriculture body Niti Aayog, saying that “growth in agriculture is more powerful in reducing poverty”. Agricultural economist Ashok Gulati spoke about the need to look beyond food security to nutritional security. And Ajay Vir Jakhar, chairman of Bharat Krishak Samaj, emphasized on building internal capacity rather than turning to international advisers on agriculture.
Environmental experts put their heads together on the issue of climate change, which they said was having a major impact on the unorganized sector. It is an area that needs urgent and coordinated action, they said.
The day also included discussions on the luxury sector, which is not often discussed when discussing the ambitions of developed India. India’s growth story, the panelists said, would also shine through the luxury industry. Much luxury was provided. For example, the Indian corporate sector’s investment in domestic brands has been a good sign, said Pushpa Bector, senior executive director of DLF Retail. Kapil Chopra, founder and CEO of Postcard Hotels and founder of EazyDiner, drew attention to “the exceptional luxury hotels.” And Alexis de Ducla, who represents some French luxury brands in India, predicted that “the next Chanel will come from India”.