India is a land of billion opportunities and not billion problems, according to Mr Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing Director, Reliance Industries Ltd.
“Lot of people think that India is a land of problems. I really think that India is a land of billion opportunities and not a billion problems,” said Mr Ambani in a panel discussion at the India Economic Summit 2011, organised by the World Economic Forum.
Ready to take-off
In spite of the grim situation that the world is facing, India is now at a stage where it is ready to take-off on the back of a young population and high-level of entrepreneurship, which is the differentiating factor in the world, emphasised Mr Ambani, who was ranked ninth in the Forbes 2011 list of world's billionaires.
Pointing out that in the last two decades, the energy of all sections of the Indian society has been unleashed to build a new India, the Reliance chief said, “in the last 20 years, we (the country) have built a foundation on which we can catapult India and give a higher quality of living to all.”
Today, India is roughly at $1,000 per capita. In the last 20 years, the country has added a trillion dollars of output. An estimated 150 million people have come out of poverty, he added. “Earlier, it was the Government which had to move the economy. Now, we have moved away from this scenario, with the Government fast becoming a facilitator. This is one of the most satisfying aspects of the changes that have happened in the last two decades,” explained Mr Ambani.
leadership development
The private sector is playing a significant role in the economy with bottoms-up entrepreneurship that is driven on the strength of ‘young' people. Underscoring the fact that corporates are fast adopting the shared value concept, the Reliance chief said most of corporate India is transiting to create shared value for the society rather than only for the shareholders.
On leadership development, he observed that it has to reflect our demographics. “We have had a history where we think that responsible jobs can only be done by 60 year olds. I think we are fast moving towards a situation where a 40-year-old can take on more responsibility and perform better. That mindset change is happening as India is going to become younger in the next two decades.”
On governance, Mr Ambani averred that a dramatic shift in governance is happening in the corporate sector. Governance systems, he felt, must ultimately deliver goods and services for common people.