Vision without action useless, say industry leaders

Vision had to be backed up by precise planning for growth of the economy, said industry captains in one breath, at the Strategy Summit 2004. Just vision was not enough.

B Muthuraman, managing director Tata Steel, said vision must be backed by a roadmap for achieving growth. He cited the example of Tata Steel and said that the company's vision had cascaded through decades, which was the reason behind its success.

Muthuraman also drew a parallel between India and China and said that it would not do any good to bemoan the progress in China or the lack of it in India.

India, he pointed out, liberalised 15-18 years after China liberalised. If the achievements in the first 10 years of a liberalised economy were analysed in China and India, then it would bring out that India fared better than China.

Y C Deveshwar, chairman of ITC, echoed Muthuraman's viewpoint and added that keyword was sustainability.

"We need sustainable growth with equity" he said. He emphasised the importance of the rural economy and said, productivity-based growth must be created in the rural economy.

He explained the importance of rural population with the help of an example.

He said, if an urbanite with a given level of income and a ruralite with the same level of income were compared then it would be revealed that the propensity to spend in the ruralite was lower. Sellers had to persuade them to spend more.

Rathin Dutta, chairman of PricewaterhouseCoopers, said that the foundation for success of the services sector were essentially three""ethics and honesty, knowledge of the subject and thought leadership.