The Hindu Business Line : ‘Farm, rural sectors pose key challenges to India’

Attention please!
Among an abundance of labour, there is shortage of skilled labour.
Infrastructural shortfall is another area of concern.
More efficient logistics and distribution systems needed.

Mr Goh Chok Tong

Rasheeda Bhagat
M. Ramesh

Singapore, Oct 10

As India’s economic rise on the global platform, backed by a consistent nine per cent growth over the last four years, is recognised as ‘real’ across the world, and it is being hailed as the second fastest growing economy in the world, there are some crucial challenges that it faces at home, said the Singapore Senior Minister, Mr Goh Chok Tong.

Addressing the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas meet being held in Singapore and organised by the Singapore India Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the CII and the Ministry for Indians Overseas, on October 9 and 10, the former Singapore Prime Minister, said today India accounted for 6.5 per cent of the world’s GDP.

“By 2050, if high growth rates are sustained, it is expected to become the world’s second largest economy, after China.”

Key advantages

India’s key advantages were its large English speaking and young population that would only get younger in the coming years.

“By 2030, India’s working age population will overtake China’s and by 2050, it will be 50 per cent larger than China’s. Just imagine India’s competitive presence then at the global stage.”

But, added Mr Goh Chok Tong, “India also faces some key challenges at home, one being its agri and rural sectors.

Challenges

“Close to two-third of the Indian population was engaged in “subsistence, rather than commercial, agriculture.

“While India and China have nearly the same area of arable land, in its best harvest year, India produced only 96 million tonnes of rice compared to China’s 130 million tonnes.”

The second challenge was improving the education sector crying out for substantial investment.

India still had 40 per cent illiteracy, the former PM said, and quoted the Finance Minister, Mr P. Chidambaram: “India cannot have scholars in research institutions as well as children out of schools.”

Among an abundance of labour, there was shortage of skilled labour.

Infrastructural shortfall was another area, Mr Goh Chok Tong said, adding that despite being “politically incorrect”, he would compare India and China on this front.

“I have just travelled by coach from the coastal city of Shanghai to the inland city of Hangzhou, and Huangshan in Anhui Province. The expressways are as good as the German autobahn.”

And it was possible to cover the 120-km distance between Beijing and Tianjin by a high speed train in 30 minutes.

Reforms

“To become a ‘more productive economy’, India needs to have more efficient logistics and distribution systems.

Also while India’s capital markets were strong, further reforms were needed in its banking and insurance sectors.”

Mr Goh Chok Tong added that his engagement and belief in India dated back to the early 90s when India was mired in economic woes, had a huge foreign debt and a sluggish GDP growth at 1.4 per cent. He hoped Singapore and India’s bilateral economic co-operation would grow speedily in the coming years.

The Ambassador to Iran and Chairman, Institute of South Indian Studies, Singapore, Mr Gopinath Pillai, said Mr Goh Chok Tong had initiated the “mild India fever” dialogue in Singapore in the 1990s when very few people believed that the Indian growth story would go beyond a few states such as Maharashtra, Gujarat and Karnataka.

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