CII has set up an 8 per cent growth agenda by 2010 and wants to create globally competitive Indian MNCs. In an exclusive with Jaya Basu of The Indian Express, the newly elected President of CII Anand Mahindra talks how this can be achieved.What are your immediate expectations from the Government?We just want the government to work as a facilitator and to engage in a constructive dialogue to put the economy on a high-growth trajectory. That’s why we have adopted a slogan that ‘let us drive growth and not wait for it to happen’. We want industry and government to work together. “It is important that we are now discussing pace of reforms and not whether they should be carried out or not.What do you exactly mean by building Indian multinationals and how do you plan to push this agenda?The Indian industry has reached a point of maturity and competence where a lot of growth drivers are in their hands. According to a Deutsche Bank report, India has all the capabilities to beat China. But the biggest problem is that we don’t have high aspirations. Lets us recognise that we will have to build our competitiveness to the point where we can actually compete with anyone in the world. The trade data for 2002-03 shows that we have done exceedingly well in exports by crossing $51 billion. We must look at our success stories and your laurels but should not rest on them. We are at the final mythical take off stage which we have always been waiting for. We are at a stage where rest of the world has begun to recognise that India is a very viable country and there should be an alternative to China.How do you think the spread of SARS would affect the Indian business?From the Indian perspective it can be looked at as an opportunity just like Iraq. Post-Iraq is definitely a boost for India. While we have to acknowledge the human suffering of SARS, but from Indian perspective it will have a very long-term effect which is beneficial. From American or European perspective, earlier it was China and may be India, but now it is China and India. I believe that the SARS effect will actually accelerate the consideration of India as an alternative option.Apart from Information Technology, which other sectors does India have the potential to become globally competitive?We at CII are looking at services not IT, besides viewing opportunities in agriculture, manufacturing and infrastructure. We have action charted out for all of them while setting up external and internal agenda. As a chamber we will continue to tell the Government how we feel about the reforms. But on the other hand internal reform agenda is equally important. If we follow this and take action, then we will not only create momentum but also substantial growth. We are also focusing a lot on healthcare as a new sector. The recent Budget has given what we wanted and now it is for us to deliver. But for that we will have to create an environment as well as infrastructure. Besides, we will also focus on the entertainment sector. What impact will the delay of implementation in VAT have on Indian industry?This is a classic situation where I think the kind of template which CII wants to develop for conflict resolution is applicable. A template should be a well-structured discussion from the top to bottom, where everyone agrees that they are together. This problem is not because of lack of will-power but due to diverse points of views. We need to start chipping away at the problem areas.
