Concerted effort from Corporate India and a constructive partnership with the government will play a critical role
India is at the cusp of major change. PwC's landmark report titled 'Future of India - The Winning Leap' launched today revealed the winning solutions required to lead India to unprecedented economic growth coupled with radical improvements in the Human Development Index (HDI) over the next two decades. The report emphasises that for India to take the Winning Leap and grow its GDP by 9% per annum to become a US$10 trillion economy, a concerted effort from Corporate India, supported by a vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem and a constructive partnership with the government will play a critical role.The report analyses that up to 40% of India's US$10 trillion economy of 2034 could be derived from new solutions. The study stresses that 'The Winning Leap' should not be limited to a new approach or solution but rather needs to be seen as a 'play-to-win' mind set shift for industry leaders and the country overall.
"A young demographics, paired with a burgeoning middle-class that is digitally enabled; is a once in a lifetime opportunity for India to develop economically and socially, said Dennis Nally, Chairman, PricewaterhouseCoopers International. "India can only build shared prosperity for its 1.25 billion people by transforming the way the economy creates value. For India, to create 10-12 million jobs every year in the coming decades, corporations and entrepreneurs must work together to help deliver new solutions and build capabilities for growth."
The research suggests that Winning Leap solutions from private sector fall within three broad categories:
1. Fierce Catch-Up - This entails following traditional approaches or technologies to surmount challenges, but at an accelerated pace. For example: Improving energy transmission and distribution efficiency
2. Significant Leap - This involves adopting new or different approaches or technologies, which may have been developed elsewhere but would also work in India. For example: Shifting from coal-based power generation to nuclear or solar energy
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3. Leapfrog - This represents a radically different approach - a paradigm shift - that entails applying a new and potentially disruptive business model. For example: Moving from central to distributed power generation
According to the report, if each sector of the Indian economy executes solutions drawn from all three categories, it will expand fivefold and can achieve 9-10% sustained economic growth over the next 20 years in a resource efficient manner.
"Corporations alone can't fuel growth and innovation needed to power India's Winning Leap, and hence the entrepreneurial sector must also play a major role as they possess qualities critical for developing innovative solutions, the willingness to take risks, an aptitude for fast decision-making, and bold leadership," said Deepak Kapoor, Chairman, PwC India. "The government also needs to extend support by creating national platforms that enable this growth and improving the ease of doing business index. For instance, immediate changes that could be harvested could be in areas like ease in starting a company and in paying taxes."
The report investigates 10 sectors; viz. education, healthcare, agriculture, retail, power, manufacturing, financial services, urbanisation and enabling sectors such as India's digital and physical connectivity. Together, these sectors constitute over 70% of India's GDP. For each sector examined, a key metric with which to assess growth performance was defined - a "vector of growth". The report states that each of the sectors face challenges whose resolution will require new and scalable solutions that are resource efficient and environmentally sustainable. Moreover, all of these sectors are interconnected and hence a setback in one spawns setbacks in others and vice-versa.
Shashank Tripathi, Partner and Strategy Leader at PwC India said, "The report stresses that linear growth in each sector would not be enough to meet the growth ambition envisioned for India. Given the complexity and scale of the challenges facing India, the resources required, and the urgency of demands for change coming from Indian citizens, sector players must deploy solutions that deliver non-linear growth. For instance, a Winning Leap approach that increases 'Average years of schooling' from 7 to 10 by 2034 could save the education sector US$ 170 billion in cumulative investments. This can only happen when innovative solutions such as mEducation, amongst others, receive wide scale adoption, investment and execution."
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