The global economy is still reeling under a sustained downturn, and India is also feeling the pinch. The prevailing fiscal stress has forced Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to point out to his ministers that the fiscal deficit is too high and a co-ordinated approach is required to tackle it. There are fears of India’s rating being downgraded by the international rating agencies from investment grade to junk, which will make it difficult for foreign investors to invest in India.
The shine that India gathered in the last few years as one of the world’s top emerging market nations is fading and the challenge is to change gears from ‘policy paralysis’ to policy overdrive, so that the country can capitalise on its potential to emerge as a winner in a tough global scenario.
The significance of the theme chosen for this year’s World Economic Forum on India — “From Deliberation to Transformation” — lies in highlighting this opportunity.
Parthasarathi Shome, former advisor to the Finance Minister, who headed the panel set up by the Prime Minister for giving recommendations on General Anti Avoidance Rules (GAAR) and Retrospective Amendments says, “We really have to transform ourselves by benchmarking, or comparing, our institutions with those of other emerging economies.”
Vineet Nayyar, Chairman, Mahindra Satyam, sums up the scenario aptly: “India is undergoing a process of simultaneous integration and disintegration in this transition to a new social order.”
Sushant Palakurthi Rao, senior director and head of Asia, World Economic Forum, says that one of the things about the Indian economy that is encouraging despite the intensity of the debate taking place in India is the strength of the democratic process.
“All debates can take place. But, it is equally important to also lay out where one wants to go and whether those relate to governance issues, economic issues, social issues. It is easy to put forward the problems, but we hope every leader in the Forum should also be asked to begin with the best practice model. The question is how can one bring those and replicate them. How can one scale them up and how do we move over time from deliberation to transformation,” Rao stresses.
The themes of WEF’s annual India event between 2001 and 2012 point to the country’s emergence in the top bracket of the global economy, and the challenges faced.
In 2001, it was ‘India: Changing Paradigm’, when the impact of economic reforms introduced in 1991 and followed by successive governments started showing signs of a sustained high-growth trajectory of over 7 per cent.
‘Addressing the New Challenges of Today’s Corporate World’ was the theme in 2002, which captured the growing clout of Indian companies within the country and globally. In 2003, WEF chose ‘Enhancing India’s Competitiveness: A Must for Growth’. In 2004 there was no specific theme.
From 2005, the prominence of India as a high-growth emerging nation was visible in themes such as ‘A Young and Resurgent India: Its Impact on Regional and Global Strategies’ (2005), ‘Meeting New Expectations’ (2006) and ‘Building Centres of Excellence’ (2007).
‘Securing India’s Future Growth’, ‘India’s Next Generation of Growth’, and ‘Implementing India’ were the themes in 2008, 2009 and 2010 respectively. The theme in 2011 underlined the need for ‘Linking Leadership with Livelihood’.
On this year’s theme, Swarup Choudhury, Managing Director, India, Thomson Reuters, says, “The WEF will serve as a platform for discussing practical issues and sharing best practices which enable India to leverage a high level of operational excellence, leading to transformation.”
