Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent visit to the Silicon Valley and his interaction with the CEOs of global tech giants like Google, Microsoft and Apple has excited the technology world about the potential of technology in India. Although these companies were already present in India, “but having seen this push from the Prime Minister, we expect that these companies will enhance their participation further,” says Sangeeta Gupta, senior vice-president, Nasscom. These companies have shown a willingness to take the Internet to the remotest parts of the country.
As per the Nasscom, India is already the third largest start-up nation and among the fastest growing in the world. Gupta believes that the real action would begin when the companies actually start working with the Indian start-ups, a willingness that many global CEOs have shown. Many of these large companies have start-up innovation fund and making those funds available to Indian start-ups would help in innovation collaboration as well.
Many believe that the PM’s continued interaction with the top CEOs to explore business opportunities in India and addressing their concerns should communicate the fact that India is open for feedback and means business. PM Modi underlined the urgency with which India wants to embrace digital technology to touch upon every aspect of human life right from “the cradle to the grave”. The programme aims to transform India into a digitally empowered and knowledgeable society. FICCI believes that the Digital India platform will immensely help in increasing the ease of doing business and bring in necessary transparency in the Indian system. Moreover, the program offers a number of new possibilities for the Indo-US collaboration including a new level of engagement between the government, private sector and citizens.
Dr Ranjeet Mehta, a doctorate in strategic marketing and a Director at PHD Chamber of Commerce & Industry is optimistic about the PM’s promotion of India as an attractive brand. “Ever since Narendra Modi has taken over, we have seen that India’s image has really gone up in the eyes of the world. And many people are now showing great enthusiasm about investing in India.” He, however, wants early roll-out of the GST which he believes is the essential cog in facilitating the ease of doing business in India.