India is on an economic multiplier growth trajectory, due to many variables syncing together, so that the total of its development parts, exceeds that of the economic whole.
Contemporary Technology, “Make in India & for the world “, financial reforms, a large number of Startups, are leading new integrated manufacturing by Companies, new R&D initiatives, defense collaborations, railway & airport expansions, highway infrastructure thrust, smart cities development, and agriculture focus – all combine to merge into a cohesive economic roadmap for India & the world. Demographic dividend from India’s emerging educated & skilled youth is becoming visible. GDP numbers of 7.2% > are demonstrative of this multiplier outcome. The stage is set; the players have their roles defined; the world is watching, in awe of India’s external policy impact! The last ten years were the economic building blocks of a solid & well-conceived political policy. How the next blocks are built, is our destiny to choose.
However, management of this growth, in decades ahead, is a different challenge altogether.
Sound business scalable models, farm-to-fork smooth supply chains, digitalised customer connects and engagement, innovation and collaboration, discovery and invention, harnessing youth energy into gainful skilled employment, and much more, – are some of the areas cut out for political and business managers.
Holding hands with communities and society, to smoothly transition economic & social change into 2050, requires cohesive unity in diversity of the country. Will the Centre and States be able to work in tandem? Will corruption in trade and business be mitigated? As the big MNC giants, step into India, with joint ventures in technology, in semi-conductors, electric, hydrogen and solar vehicles manufacturing, as defence cooperation climbs up, as the likes of Boeing, Apple, Microsoft, Google, Tesla and many European, Korean, British & Taiwanese Companies set sail for Indian shores, – the macro scenario in Indian cities will undergo a metamorphosis of sorts. Ex pats will mingle with a sea of Indian populace with possibly mixed cultural outcomes. Will the wealthy become richer; how will the distribution of wealth be fairly done; will the benefits of growth touch common lives of the poorest & the subserved?
India and its citizens have never actually visualised nor experienced the unfolding future global horizons. Nor have, unfortunately the elders. It’s a fresh new playground, with new players, new rules, new ideas and new ways to manage life. Globally a New World is emerging, its hands itching to press nuclear triggers and explore latest technology of mass destruction. The Geopolitical order is shifting and there are constant rumblings sounds from the superpowers like US, China, & Russia, and aggressive stances from emerging powers like India, Japan & South Korea. These sounds can be heard in India too, from China, Pakistan, & from its envious so-called colleagues in G 20.
Technologies such as AI, Robotics, Blockchain, ML, Deep tech, Sensors, Drones, and more, are being adopted globally, in variety of applications, that will dramatically alter the way citizens lead their daily lives, conduct banking, and do business. The auto sector will see solar, hydrogen & electric boom; cars will fly likely; climate change will lead to nations grappling with emission controls, and battling rising temperatures and uncertain weather occurrences, floods, droughts, wildfires, earthquakes, melting ice & scarcity of water resources, and forest erosion.
World population may touch 10 billion too! Space may be intruded upon by mischievous satellites & stations, ready to conduct Star Wars on earth and beyond; the view from space will lead us beyond the Big Bang event, into the very womb of creation, unfolding the true scientific Einstein physics blinded perhaps by a smiling divine Creator! To imagine the current war ridden world, and what it will look like in 2050, is a real exercise in anticipatory management, by experts using technology and understanding of geopolitical advances. To envision the turn into the next century is like a fantasy, in a rapidly changing universe. The task for India is to target its positioning into this landscape, economically, militarily, and culturally! The challenge is to look beyond one’s metaphoric nose, beyond today’s global powerplay, beyond todays GDP numbers, and beyond todays’ ostensibly credible relationships.
Socially, what will happen to Indian society, with its by 2050, around 700000 villages? The North and South divide in India is only deepening, with scant respect for political and constitutional directives. Language & Religion are becoming a divisive tool. Pride, in being an Indian, is at best a slogan for the media. How will cohesiveness, and unity in an envisioned secular federal social order, be attained? What can common families, in the emerging lower middle-class demographics, look forward to, by way of improvement in their quality of life?
So, the Big Picture must be reimaged and merged into the small ones, so that the roadmap leads to upping the index of pursuit of individual creativity & happiness. Its very easy to get lost in the mares of the present day complex political intrigues. The short-term goal may be to retain power for the Modi led government, but such a vision would be short sighted; Mr Modi recently talked of the last ten years as laying a foundation for the next decades. That’s the correct way forward, but BJP must deal with succession planning as well, and be ready to install leadership, that understands the changing India, and its place in the coming world. Transparency and Good Governance will become the key pillars for the decades to follow. As will sustained, powerful and decisive leadership at the helm of affairs.
So, folks, an exciting future awaits our children, some appetisers, we may surely taste, signalling the wild calls of yet untamed times! Can you envision the horizon? Do you feel the future?
Chander Sabharwal is a senior professor of rural marketing and business advisor.