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If Indian industry wants to be globally competitive, it needs to both widen its canvas and acquire strengths in niche areas. Currently Indian companies are globally competitive in information technology and pharmaceuticals. India Inc should try also expand its capabilities within these domains and venture into other areas.

For instance, in the IT-related areas, there could be a shift in focus from jobs undertaken on a high-cost basis to easily deployable solutions at low cost. If IT deployment can be done with such a motive, a greater sharing of benefits across society is also possible.

In adopting such an innovative approach, one area that comes to mind is using IT in the education domain.

If we can integrate schooling, even at the elementary and middle-school levels, with advances in IT, especially in distance-learning, and make it affordable to the masses, great progress is possible towards the goal of universal literacy and education.

With political will, and a commitment to efficiency and good governance from the State and local governments, we can certainly make good progress over the next decade.

Another crucial area that India needs to reassess on an urgent basis is the power sector and related policy perspectives. It must look at the cost of the electricity produced today and evaluate if it is cost-competitive internationally or not. India needs to address this issue as a priority as power cost is an important element in the conversion cost of most industries.

In other areas where India is not globally competitive, organisations can adopt the policy of collaborative ventures with foreign partners such that the industry does not suffer for want of technical know-how. Players in these sectors could take advantage of the mass market promise that India holds, and make joint ventures equally attractive for the foreign partners.

(The author is Senior Manager, Supply Chain, Dr Reddy's Laboratories, Hyderabad. The views are personal)

G. B. R. K. Prasad

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