Times Network, a part of India’s largest media conglomerate, The Times Group, commenced its signature event, India Economic Conclave 2018 in its 5th edition in Mumbai today. Driving this edition’s theme, ‘Shaping India’s $5 Trillion growth agenda’, Day 1 of the two-day conclave witnessed influential leaders, global visionaries and key policymakers address the audience through a series of panel discussions and deliberations on enabling greater economic growth of India.
Celebrating the leadership of Indian economy at the world stage, India Economic Conclave 2018 curated thought provoking sessions, insights and inspiring glimpse into the future with a clear focus to enable the rapid transformation of India to a global powerhouse. MK Anand, MD & CEO, Times Network delivered the inaugural address and Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, Maharashtra, set the context for the Conclave with his keynote address highlighting the key contributing factors in achieving the 5 Trillion growth agenda and his aspirations for making Maharashtra the first Indian state to have a Trillion dollar economy by 2025. Baba Ramdev, Co-Founder – Patanjali Ayurved Ltd., reflected his thoughts on ‘The Swadeshi Magic’ and Trivendra Singh Rawat, Chief Minister, Uttarakhand deliberated on how the Indian states can deliver to our Prime Minister’s vision of putting India in the elite club of 5-trillion-dollar economies. Kiran Majumdar Shaw, CMD – Biocon Ltd, Arundhati Bhattacharya, Former SBI Chairman and Suneeta Reddy, MD – Apollo Hospitals discussed how India is progressing with more Women Achievers coming to the forefront. David Hanson gave an interesting and inspirational glimpse into the future through an interactive chat on Artificial Intelligence & Humans and Jimmy Wales & Ralph Simon in a fireside chat discussed the pros and cons of digital freedom.
MK Anand, MD & CEO, TIMES NETWORK said, “India Economic Conclave through the course of its 4 editions has successfully carved its own niche to become the most definitive global platform for driving India’s Economic Agenda. The 5th edition comes in the backdrop of very volatile news flow, with ensuing global trade war on one side and key state election results on the other. From RBI Governor’s resignation to the upcoming general elections, the Indian economy is at an interesting inflection point. With a strong purpose to drive the narrative of shaping the $5 trillion agenda, India Economic Conclave strives to build conversations with policy makers, think tanks and global experts for constructive dialogue and discussions on critical points concerning the Indian economy”.
Mr. Devendra Fadnavis, Chief Minister, Maharashtra, said, “What is the strategy towards the 5 Trillion Economy? The first trillion will come from Agriculture & Allied Activities, the second trillion should come from manufacturing. The biggest contribution to the 5 Trillion Economy will come from the services sector, it’s not just the traditional services but modern services – industries 2.0, and all the allied activities like fin tech, big data, AI, block chain and digital economy. It is estimated that out that out of this 3 trillion, 1 trillion can come from digital economy. To support these three verticals we need a horizontal push of infrastructure as that’s the key to fast tracking to 5 Trillion economy.
Highlighting Maharashtra’s contribution to the 5 Trillion economy, Mr. Fadnavis added, “Maharashtra accounts for 51% percent of big infrastructure projects in India. We have also created strong governances with a war room which has brought down the time of approvals by 75%. We have attracted over 8Lakh Crore investments through the registered 18000 projects. We have started a fin tech & direct purchase policy in the state. Today, Maharashtra is the start-up & FDI capital of the country. We aspire that by 2025, when India’s economy will be 5 Trillion, Maharashtra will be the first Indian state to have a Trillion dollar economy”
Sharing his views at the India Economic Conclave 2018, Mr. Raghuram Rajan, Former RBI Governor said, “We must first pat ourselves on the back for what we’ve done so far. 25 years of 7% growth is a good thing and so we have come some distance. What helps us grow in a healthy way is strong institutions, whether it’s the pollution regulator, the efficiency regulator or the financial regulator. So these are the structures that we must strengthen and they have to stand as independent bodies to ensure our growth is healthy. We also need to focus on equitable growth, creating more jobs for our increasing population. We also have wake up calls that we need to far more in terms of quality education and healthcare. We must focus on improving the quality of the research, the quality of our universities for our companies and start up ecosystem to get better. We also need to improve our statistical processes, qualitative and quantitative. However, I think there’s no immediate reason to be overly concerned about India but there is a reason to revisit our growth path to ensure it is stable, sustainable and equitable. If we can do all this, we are on the right track”
The two-day India Economic Conclave that kick started today, December 12 will culminate on December 13, 2018. The 5th India Economic Conclave is powered by ET NOW, presented by Capital First and power partner Ravin. It will be aired over a series of episodes on ET NOW, India’s leading English Business news channel.