Venkat Raman –
An expert has advised New Zealand businesses and investors keen on engaging with India to open dialogue with the governments of various states instead of concentrating on dealing with the federal government in Delhi.
Dr Reuben Abraham, Senior Fellow IDFC Institute and Executive Director, Indian School of Business (Hyderabad, India) said that state governments are active in attracting Foreign Direct Investment (FDI).
Go to States
“Apart from appealing to Non-Resident Indians (holders of Indian passports domiciled elsewhere) and people of Indian origin (born, raised or citizens of other countries), Chief Ministers of various States have embraced market reforms, simplified their systems and procedures and have begun to provide incentives for foreign investors. New Zealand businesses and investors will do well to utilise the potential in regions directly,” he said.
Dr Abraham, who is also a non-resident Scholar at the Urbanisation Programme of the New York University, was speaking to the delegates attending the ‘Business Summit 2015,’ organised by the New Zealand India Business Council (INZBC) on March 13.
Describing India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi as a ‘moderniser’ (rather than a ‘liberaliser’), Dr Abraham said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Leader was keen to build the capacity of 29 independent States and seven union territories to achieve good governance through discipline and culture of service.
“Look at India at the State level; Andhra Pradesh in the South is equally flourishing with industry and agriculture as Uttar Pradesh in the North. Karnataka in the South is another great example of a progressive economy. The States are the primary drivers of the Indian economy and the country is moving fast to become a dynamic urban economy. The time to commence a meaningful dialogue with the States is now,” he said.
Massive growth
Dr Abraham said that growth in an economy, which continues to battle poverty (although dramatically reduced) with more than 140 million removed from ‘absolute poverty,’ the challenge of reaching higher standards of living remained formidable.
“With Purchasing Power Parity (in GDP terms) of US$4.9 trillion and GDP of US$1.67 trillion, India is fastest developing economy in the free world. Most of the infrastructure required by the country in 2030 is yet to be built and as such, the country offers immense potential for international investors. New Zealand has an ideal opportunity to engage with India now and the rebuild of Christchurch can become a major avenue for higher levels of engagement,” he said.
Clear Examples
Earlier in his keynote address, Nandan Nilekani, Former Chief Executive and former Chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India, said that New Zealand’s advanced policy in telecommunications and healthcare were “clear examples” of potential areas of collaboration between business houses of the two countries.
“While New Zealand has innovative, sophisticated solutions which Indian companies could benefit from through partnerships, the solutions have to be reconfigured and architecture modified to bring down costs and cater to a bigger population,” he said.
“New Zealand has a lot of innovators and innovative products that could be helpful for India. If challenges of ramping up scale are achieved, then people in India will start to look at New Zealand businesses as partners,” he added.
Attractive destination
INZBC Chairman Sunil Kaushal said that India offers an attractive proposition for businesses in agriculture, food processing and related industries, telecommunications, healthcare, electronic hardware, education and training.
More than 350 persons including about 50 businesses from India, representing the two governments, public and private undertakings attending the one-day conference held under the theme, “Growing with India: Inspire, Innovate, Grow.’ The main speakers included Prime Minister John Key, Energy & Resources Minister Simon Bridges, Associate Trade Minister Todd McClay, Auckland Mayor Len Brown, and India’s High Commissioner Ravi Thapar.
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The Picture here shows Prime Minister John Key with (front row from left) Shankar Vanavaryar (former National Chairman of CII Young Indians), Chandrajit Banerjee (Director General, CII), Ravi Thapar (Indian High Commissioner), Ajay Shriram (President CII), Nandan Nilekani (former Chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India) and Som Mittal (IT and Automotive expert). Among those in the back row are (from left) Dr Naushad Forbes (Vice-President, CII), India Grahame Horton (High Commissioner to India) and Sunil Kaushal (INZBC Chairman)
