There is an opportunity and a need for raising the share of manufacturing in the economy: Dr V Anantha Nageswaran at CII

“There is an opportunity and a need for raising the share of manufacturing in the economy and the consequent generation of low and semi-skilled jobs, apart from facilitating overall employment generation” stated Dr V Anantha Nageswaran, Chief Economic Advisor, Government of India. He was speaking at the session on “Co-Creating the Future Responsibly: The Role of Business” at CII’s Annual Business Summit in New Delhi today. As India progresses from being the tenth largest to the fifth largest economy, aspirations also rise along with such key milestones, he added. “It is important to recognize these aspirations and strive to meet them for a better standard of living”, he stated further.

Elaborating on some of India’s key priority areas for achieving a developed nation status, Dr Nageswaran stated that improvements in human resource development are critical for achieving higher economic growth prospects. He also emphasized the importance of cities as ecosystems for attracting talent and stated that as cities play a catalytic role in fostering entrepreneurship, innovation and creativity, it is critical to convert India’s tier 2 and tier 3 cities into engines of growth. Improving learning outcomes, preparing the country’s youth for adopting AI as well as focus on the physical heath of the youth cohort were also key focus areas, he added.

The creation of a ‘Mittlestand’ or a vibrant small and medium enterprises sector is an imperative, stated Dr Nageswaran. He highlighted the importance of deregulation or lighter compliance burden for MSMEs in this regard. At the same time, there is a need to address factors of production such as land and labour markets and the need for making power generation and distribution economically viable for a faster energy transition, he observed.

Dr Nageswaran added that as various challenges emanate from geopolitical fragmentation and climate change, there is a need to focus on dialogue and consensus building with all relevant stakeholders for implementing next-generation reforms. He also emphasized the importance of macroeconomic stability and the criticality of prudent and sustainable general government finance for improved credit ratings as key aspects, especially at a time when geopolitical risks are at an all time high.

As India charts its growth prospects, the global environment cannot be taken for granted, stated Dr Nageswaran. Taking several examples of global risks such as increasing geopolitical fragmentation and uncertainty, impact of US Fiscal Policy and interest rates, the ubiquitous presence of China in global manufacturing, global financial stability, among others, he emphasized that India needs to find ways to address these challenges. He further added that Government cannot address these challenges alone and the support from private sector would be critical for society to advance further.

Dr Nageswaran also emphasized the need for accepting social responsibility for many of our innovations including the impact of AI. He reiterated that Corporate Social Responsibility is not separate from Corporate Responsibility and the need for taking meaningful and concrete actions across all areas was critical for co-creating the future responsibly.

Mr. Nadir Godrej, Chairman and Managing Director, Godrej Industries Limited, Mr. Sanjiv Bajaj, Chairman and Managing Director, Bajaj Finserv Limited, Mr. T V Narendran, CEO and Managing Director, Tata Steel Limited and Ms. Suneeta Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise Limited also addressed the session.

Mr. R. Dinesh, President, CII moderated the session and stated that tracking employment will continue to be a top priority for CII.

May 18, 2024

New Delhi