Boston Consulting Group CEO to meet Modi on speeding up Govt’s digitisation drive

A top-level team from US-based global management consulting firm Boston Consulting Group, which projected a sharp increase in digital transactions in India just four months before the government demonetised the high value currency notes, is likely to hold talks with Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the firm’s ongoing and future projects, including the country’s digitisation process.

The Prime Minister's Office is processing a request for a meeting between BCG CEO Rich Lesser and Modi later this month.

The discussion is likely to be on ways to fast-track the government's digitisation drive, a government official told Business Line .

“The BCG has been involved with the on-going digitisation process of the government for some time. In fact, the Finance Ministry’s Watal Committee, which came up with suggestions on measures to promote digitisation in December 2016, used the joint report on digital payments brought out by BCG and Google in July for reference,” the official said.

The report suggested that Indians will use digital instruments to make payments worth $500 billion by 2020, contributing to 15 per cent of the country's gross domestic product.

This would be a ten-times growth over the current figures. The timing of the report was remarkable as just four months down the line the government withdrew high value currency notes and announced its intention to accelerate the digitisation process.

BCG is also a special invitee in the 13-member Committee of Chief Ministers headed by Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu to promote digital payment systems to promote transparency, financial inclusion and also prepare a roadmap in this regard. The committee has been constituted by the Centre.

“The meeting between the BCG CEO and the Prime Minister is significant as Lesser may point out areas where the country needs to pay more attention. One has to understand that faster digitisation also results in more business for the service industry,” the official said.

Interestingly, while moving towards a less cash economy would help to check tax evasion and curb corruption, the process of digitisation is expected to result in an increased demand for digital payment equipment and payment services providers from across the globe.

A recent study by BCG on the changing consumer behaviour in India, points out that digital channels will influence 30-35 per cent of all retail sales by 2025. Online retail spending would be about 8-10 per cent of total retail spending.

COMMENT NOW