 Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much for joining us here for the India strategy session It is my pleasure to welcome on the stage and on this panel two ministers representing the government of India the Commerce Minister Mr. Piyush Kul. Thank you very much for joining us and the oil and gas minister. Mr. Hadid Puri, thank you very much, Mr. Puri for joining us representing industry is the president of the Confederation of Indian Industry Sanjeev Ajat Sanjeev always a pleasure. Let me lay out the context for What we intend to take forward in this discussion at this point in time India at a relative advantage growth for the year for FY23 forecast by the Reserve Bank of India stands at 7.2 percent We've had a good run in terms of export a record number We've had a good run in terms of foreign direct investment again a record number And of course at this point our forex reserves continue to be the cushion and provide us with the comfort That is much needed in the volatile times that we live in but these are volatile times And there are challenges that the global economy is based within of course India cannot be insulated from those challenges So there are near-term issues to be addressed There are medium and long-term issues to be addressed as well as we celebrate our 75th year So that's the context that we intend to take forward here in this conversation. So minister Goyal Let me start by asking you let's address the short term at this point in time as I said There are significant challenges the horizon looks cloudy at this point in time. There is of course the Russia Ukraine situation That's playing out there is what's happening with China and it's moved towards more protectionism and Becoming more insular and the impact of that on global growth and the global economy The response will have to be a combination of fiscal and monetary measures. The RBI has acted The government has also acted over the weekend Significant decisions being taken by the government to bring down excise duties to provide relief To also alleviate some of the pain that industry is facing Is this the first installment of the fiscal measures and is more expected? Thank you, Shereen and Well, obviously challenges are there challenges will continue to remain and all of the business world Clearly understands that if there were no challenges everybody would be a billionaire We in government recognize that if there were no difficulties we wouldn't be in government There would be no need for government. So we are very conscious that that's something we have to sort out No business no government can remain constant they have to evolve with changing times and I think the government has demonstrated its ability and its agility to Move with the situation as you rightly mentioned a number of steps been taken over the weekend Wherever the need arises we are ready and open to look at what support is Necessary for businesses to sustain to continue to grow Infrastructure has been a focus area of this government because we believe we have to prepare India for the long run So you'll find most of the changes in the first round largely focused to ensure orderly growth of the infrastructure sector housing roads all the industries which Are dependent on infrastructure growing also stand to benefit significantly The small-scale sector the export sector stands to gain significantly from the measures announced And I think the Reserve Bank had also given clear indication That should the government come up proactively with certain measures then it'll help Reserve Bank Refrain from too much of a policy action which could hurt India's growth So I'm sure Reserve Bank is watching Reserve Bank I think should be happy with the steps the government has taken and hopefully this will resonate well in terms of Continuing the growth momentum and not taking too many steps on the monetary side which could Which may not necessarily be in the best interest of business in the long run Yes, you're right in pointing that out and of course the RBI governor in his conversation with CNBC TV 18 Just yesterday said that they are going to be watching the situation as it develops closely and take a call on further Retikes mr. Puri one of the key challenges in this already complex mix is what we are seeing as far as energy prices are concerned Crude at $110 a barrel and holding at that that is one of the big risks that we are faced with You can't do anything about crude prices You've tried to do what you can as far as excise duties are concerned What's the expectation now not in terms of prices? But the levers you can deploy if we continue to see prices hold at these levels it what next what more can you do? We are very much a part of the international community and for a country which imports 85% of its requirement of crude and 50% or their abouts of gas clearly global prices have a major Impact I mean how do you calculate price at the bunk you take the global price you take the cost of insurance and freight You factor in the exchange rate which again Is not insignificant and then you look at refining margins, etc. And you work at that out But I think the good news is and that's something which India can be justifiably Proud of and state up front. It's not a one-time measure which we took on a set of measures on the 21st of May I think the Prime Minister has Demonstrated time and time again That the government and he particularly personally is responsive to the needs of the people there is sensitivity Now you could have argued as some of my friends did argue that if your month-on-month Petrol consumption increases by 15% then you know, it's not having an impact on the consumer But that's not the story if you're driving an 18 lakh Car costing 18 lakhs, which is the most popular selling model. That's why I'm not gonna name it Otherwise say I'm commercially promoting it, but the issue is Cost of petrol or diesel doesn't make a difference to that person, but it makes a difference to somebody who has a Fixed income etc. So the Prime Minister cut exercise excise on petrol and diesel on 4th May 5 rupees and 10 rupees on petrol and diesel respectively and again 8 rupees and 6 rupees So the government is stepping up government is doing and as pujji said Large number of other measures taken now. What is going to happen to international prices? I'm sorry if I sound a little a stark, but Oil prices at 110 dollars a barrel. That's not sustainable and The fact that that is not sustainable is being seen in countries around India You see the dire states that they're in it's being seen in Africa in Latin America now I am It's everybody's sovereign decision how much of energy you want to put out into the market because the amount of energy you put out and if there's an Equilibrium between demand and supply the price will be determined, but I think Everyone should look at the fact that this is an existential threat. Yes, and I'm hoping I'm hoping We'll use pujji will use his margin of persuasion in every bilateral meeting the feedback. I'm getting he's saying it I'm not Shying away from telling people what the consequences are Hopefully hopefully that once that realization dawns that you're not looking at just inflation In the lead economy of the world 20 trillion dollar economy highest rates of inflation in 50 years One of the other countries which we have used to long historical association steeper's decline in living standards since the Second World War That is what makes in many ways the India story more remarkable that in spite of that Integrated global scenario. We are taking the measures the Prime Minister has taken the measures in order to fix it How best we can insulate side or build in some safeguards? My last meeting before I came here was with the OPEC member also I think they are now and I hope they do realize Recognizing that beyond a stage. This is counterproductive For example, India is converting even this crisis into an opportunity We had a plan to blend 20% by patrol by 2030 with ethanol Two weeks ago Minister Puri has advanced that target by five years. So we're going to be 20% blending of Petrol by 20 25 26. We're also looking at flexi fuels going right up to 100% Ethanol driven vehicles. All of that is good for India in the long run We have suffering in the short run, but we are making use of this opportunity to Transit that will help also our farmers. So farmers will get nearly 10 billion dollars worth of additional income with ethanol taking center stage Similarly, electric vehicles. There was a time when people were vacillating house the speed with which the world will transition I think this time around when the water level reaches right up to your nose Even when the prices come down people will be Unforgetting of what the suffering was and my own senses electric vehicles is going to now grow Rapidly in the years to come. So I think the opaque members of the oil producing companies may enjoy a short-term gain But it will lead to a long-term fall in their demand and their prosperity Well, hopefully oil producers are taking note of that but Sanjeev Pajaj. Let me ask you, you know So far the mood in industry has been that demand is holding up Investments will be made. There is the start in the pickup as far as capex is concerned and in light of the additional measures announced by the government Some additional relief has been provided. What's the sense that you get? Plans continue to be on track plans continue to roll out and move forward Shirin as you said the last couple of quarters. We've started seeing growth come back at least consumer growth very clearly We're seeing this on the ground and as you mentioned again quite a few sectors Not just commodities, but chemicals look at real estate housing Logistics we are seeing Investment already down that cycle. I see I we did a survey with our top few hundred members a couple of months ago and 50% of them were already in an investment cycle and an additional 25% We're going to make it in the next quarter or two Or maybe that gets delayed by another quarter or two because we know externalities have changed to some extent But the good thing is that in general industry is over 70% on capacity Which means they're ready for the next investment cycle and with a certain amount of certainty Inflation I think needs to be tackled now We know that to the common man in addition to fuel we've talked about it. The other is food inflation Hopefully we are hearing is going to be a good monsoon, which means food inflation should be behind us We should see the domestic Demand churning and that should help in the coming quarters. Mr. Cuell if I can address the food issue We just talked about fuel inflation But if we can address the issue of food inflation as well in the short term given the disruption that we're seeing on account of Russia And Ukraine and most countries are resorting to taking measures including what we have done Do you believe that for now what has been done is it or do you believe that more needs to be done? First of all, I would like to mention For the benefit of those who are not fully aware of the wheat situation India never ever was a traditional player in the international wheat market Until two years ago. We did not even export wheat from India Two years ago. We started with the modest two million tons of wheat export last year. We did about seven million tons Basically, this was a little surplus that we found Available and that got sold even within that it was largely in the last two months after the war situation developed between Ukraine and Russia This year around we were expecting our production to grow by about seven or eight percent Sadly, we had a very severe heat wave in most parts of North India Wheat had to be harvested early and we've lost production initial estimates have it be down seven eight percent By the time we get the final figures, it could be slightly more Given that situation what we are producing is about enough to for our domestic consumption With the slight surplus a lot of which has already been exported will continue to allow exports for Governments which are in serious need which are very friendly to us where we have very Great relations. We recognize the letter of credits the genuine ones which have already been open Those will be allowed. So we'll we'll be a player We'll be doing to the best of our ability will continue to export as regards overall food inflation It's still very much in manageable level Rice has not seen any significant inflation wheat has seen some inflation, but it's not as yet Very disturbing fruits vegetables for example tomatoes every year in this month They go up, but they are not gone up as much as they went up last year and now this started coming down Onion and potatoes which are two sensitive items our production this year is expected to be good Indications are all right prices are in fact on the lower end of the scale. So my own sense is that The packaged food industry they may make a little buck or two extra because there's some people willing to pay for it But at the lower end the common man will not feel the pain pain of food inflation Mr. Puri, let's move away from the impact on account of the Russia Ukraine war to talk about one of the other issues That is being discussed here in Davos and that's what's happening with China And what's happening in China and the move towards more protectionism tighter regulations and so on and so forth and the opportunity that the Alignments globally as well as the supply chain de-risking strategy that Companies and CEOs are at this point in time looking at the opportunity that that presents for India I mean even at the last Davos China plus one and what that could mean for India was spoken of I just finished a conversation with the global CEO of eva and he said that as CEOs and companies start to make these decisions They're either going to look at the home country advantage or they're going to look at Countries that geopolitically have friendly Relationships with the countries that they're headquartered in so he he called it friend shoring We're very well aware of offshoring But friend shoring is that going to dictate how supply chain realignment will take place and how do you Expect India to capitalize on that first of all, let me Reinforce what pujji was saying earlier about challenges also offering opportunities and I think what you see Clearly in evidence is that many of these challenges have resulted in India Seizing the opportunity the healthcare sector is a case in point the vaccine story is a case in point I mean vaccine production and the public sector had been dismantled between 2004 and 14 I'm not making a political point. We rose to the occasion and two billion doses of vaccines administered to our people Virtually gratis free of cost. That's a Very significant contribution to the global effort I have a slightly longer term perspective on what's happening in china or elsewhere The current order that we are part of was set in the aftermath of the second world war the san francisco Conference where the united nations came into being the breton wards institutions the fund the bank General agreement on tariffs and trade which became the wto I think what the Pandemic demonstrated unlike h1n1 SARS ebola earlier SARS had a much higher mortality rate But what this has Demonstrated as I think we used to you as a first to remind me this looks like the 1918 thing That is when it started. I'm talking about march 2020 when we had our first discussion But today that global order Has been challenged The very fact that the united nation system or anyone else have not been able to utilize their existing instruments to enforce a secession of australities on The situation in one part of the world. I'm talking about Ukraine Russia What's happening inside china? I mean The information out in the public domain Indicates that there is a problem. I'm not going to make a comment Does that have something to do with the efficacy of the vaccines that produce there are other issues? You know when the genesis when the whole problem started we realized what's happening There was not just a disruption of supply chains, but some of us had to reinvent ourselves and I think As I heard some of my colleagues say you are now re-establishing those relations Amongst people who feel a certain sense of confidence and trust in one another Who are able to know this term you use just now? Friends soaring. Yeah fair enough. I think you you know you store Distinguished friendship and trust. I think that's it No matter what happens The current there are multiple crises that the world is confronting The energy crisis is one we spoke about that has an impact on the Possible food inflation. Luckily in India we've insulated ourselves. We've taken a large number of measures to Make take care of our concerns But these crises Individual crises would reinforce each other And in this process you will look at a pre-covid and a post-covid period. I know it's very Tempting but sometimes misleading to do that, but the world which is now coming into being Will be characterized With international Avenues of cooperation very different from the second world war one and in that I think India is playing a role India will determine the prime minister's personal reach out. I'm not only just talking about quad I mean he was in europe recently. He was uh, it's a it's a it's a very vigorous and sustained Positioning of India to take Charge and take advantage of those opportunities. What will happen to this? You will be start contributing I mean I can give you a number of areas active pharmaceutical Ingredients is one how we went into the whole health care the oxygen plants, etc And I think that is what has helped and yes Look, we wish well to all Economy is large and small, but if something goes wrong in a very large economy It has reverberations Elsewhere and we'll have to build in safeguards to make sure that the impact on us and for people that we care We are sufficiently insulated against those Disruptions sanjeev. Let me take that forward with you in terms of What we are seeing a change in the geopolitical alignments a change in the geopolitical framework Marry that with the decisions already taken by the government to open up sectors I think fdi caps across sectors have been relaxed and that's been a process that we've seen happen There have been several sectoral schemes being announced pli schemes 15 of them a semiconductor policy now put in place as well So we've seen very significant fdi flows coming in given this current context Do you believe we will continue to build on that? What's the sense you get when you speak with your counterparts globally? This session that's why is as much about india at 75 as it is about india beyond 75 Right from the amrit khal that our prime minister talks about the next 25 years. How do we prepare for that? so One the ft is that minister Piyush is working on and to that already signed is opening up new avenues for growth Second, we know geopolitics is creating this friendly sourcing secure sourcing Opportunity and need india can stand up to that the 13 plus one sectors with the pli support Which is a kickstart to manufacturing in key sectors to build not only Capacity but capability and very clearly you cannot do it in hundreds of sectors You can do it in certain key sectors that's happening The national infrastructure pipeline the monetization fund all of these are Furthering infrastructure not only employment not only GDP growth rate, but also will improve ease of doing business ease of doing business itself I know sci we've taken a whole bunch of representations to the government to improve or change regulations That's happening and they're saying come back with more All of this has to continue happening because it's not We've not reached. There's no end goal. It's a process. We have to be on that road all this put together Should definitely create the next few decades of opportunity for india Well, speaking of the next few decades of opportunity the aspiration of the five trillion dollar economy minister goel The expectation now is that we'll get to that in f5 27 given what we've had to go through on account of the pandemic, etc But linked very closely to that is the aspiration on the export front. We've had a good year on exports It's been a record number that's been delivered What will be the focus areas as far as exports are concerned? You know, where do you believe india will be able to use its competitive advantage its competitive strength to drive the export Target and you've you've held out a very ambitious target of getting to a trillion dollars In merchandise export by 2030 and a trillion dollars in services exports by 2030 as well What would be the roadmap the drivers for export growth from here on? You know when you drill down these targets or the mission that we set out to do You find that it's not at all difficult I'll give you a case in point The textile sector we're doing about 42 billion we did last year It's a sector which was traditionally our very own india was known for the textile sector When I talk to the textile industry their problems are not too many There's certainly a major issue with the import duties that are charged to indian goods in eu and uk and other countries Where we did not have an fta so far or no discussions were happening and there are large markets Which we are trying to resolve so vietnam and bangladesh vietnam for the fta bangladesh being a less developed country Got an edge over our exporters Many ways we could not create scale Often the textile industry had a problem that we didn't have a cluster based approach So we had cotton and another region spinning in another and then this material would come back to a third region for fabricing or Whatever gum and gum and making We're trying to right size all these small concerns and issues which are flagged off with us Seven mega textile parks are coming up under p.m. Mitra scheme When each of these issues are being addressed in consultation with the industry And then when I talk to them that what kind of targets can we come up with They tell us that we can do a hundred billion dollars by 2030 We don't have to tell them the bottom-up approach. I spoke about in the morning I think every sector when we are talking to them earlier in the day. I was talking to the steel industry the aggressive expansion plans that they have The way they want to become a dominant player in the world markets Despite our putting in an export restriction To cool down prices and ensure availability of steel for our msme sector are engineering Exporters are engineering Autocomponent manufacturers and stuff like that. They are very bullish. They are very confident about the future They recognize that we have also addressed their concerns about Input pricing and a very balanced approach has been taken vis-a-vis the growth of that sector They are looking at expanding their exports from a current level of about 20 million tons to nothing less than 60 70 million tons That's the spirit in which we are engaging with each sector gem in jewelry Just before leaving for Davos. I had a presentation from lab growing diamonds Lab grown diamonds are growing at about 30 percent a year But they say we can do much faster growth. We are currently about 600 700 million dollars Of export they are targeting 10 billion dollars only lab grown diamonds in the next five years Now these are these are jewels in our crown small Issues which we didn't recognize for so many years technical textiles We have just not understood that the world has moved two-third of the world trade of a hundred of a trillion dollars Is in technical textiles, but we were not a player because we just focused on one segment Now we have focused on expanding technical textiles to the extent that we are supporting research in technical textiles Significantly all across the country So textiles leather sports goods Footwear Gem and jewelry our engineering exports. We had targeted 103 billion went up to 113 billion last year They are looking at 250 billion dollars at least by 2030 So when you drill it down sector by sector doesn't look like a very difficult target Okay Let me address one of the other sectors that the government is focused on and industry is looking at that opportunity as well Very closely and that's the transition to clean energy to green energy. Mr. Puri You know minister Goyal talked about the ethanol blending timeline being advanced to 2025 But in the context of the current challenges as well, there is an issue as far as coal is concerned We are seeing power outages at this point in time That's the near-term challenge that you need to address as well Even as you make the transition and plan for the long term, which hopefully will be cleaner and greener What do you see as the specific challenges as we make this transition and what do you believe are the Imperatives both from the government point of view as well as from the industry's perspective to be able to deliver on this When you said that let me take you to another sector. I thought you were coming to housing I'll get to that also I'm just teasing you We got things good things are happening there too Busey and I were in a discussion the other day and we were talking about cement I said people seem to forget that we're constructing between 700 and 900 million square meters of urban space every year Which is equivalent to Chicago or something. I mean there's a phenomenal construction activity which is going on there But coming to and and the sector has picked up. I mean inventories are down Except for a few cases demand is up, you know, and I I'll come to that only if you ask me, but Why don't why don't I ask you that now then since you've already started Look again again. It starts it starts with that basic sensitivity And when the prime minister said that it is his dream that by 2022 Every indian no matter where he or she lives should have a roof over their heads A paka ghar with a kitchen a toilet Ujwala, etc, etc And some of my friends in parliament was getting a little aggressive and I enjoyed I encouraged them A one target was 1 crore. We've already done 1 crore 22 lakhs If you combine that with the target for the rural sector, it's over three crores Now, we are not just talking numbers 70 or 75 lakh Of the Units have already been handed over to the Lavartis or the beneficiaries the others have been grounded You have to use modern technology the prime minister declared a full year as global technology housing challenge year We shortlisted 53 technology six of them were invited to participate in glasshouse projects where in six cities 1,000 homes are being constructed using the latest cutting-edge technology within one year This is the government part of it. Then there is a private sector part of it is much larger and Prime minister wanted that the title of each of those homes should be in the name of the lady of the house. So there is Empowerment there is gender etc And what the private sector has done they're using modern technologies private sector is stepping in a phenomenal amount of work is Now, what is the importance of the housing sector? PUC started with textiles and clothing. That's a very big employer Agriculture is a very big employer I mean if I tabulate all the steps that the government has taken for agriculture in different ways It adds up what the state governments are doing the honorable chief minister The state governments have done on their own also All this is adding up to and housing and construction again contributor to gdp and employment If you take textiles housing and Agriculture these are the three major You know Areas which sectors which provide the employment You're using green technology. Let me come briefly because I know you have a time constraint to the transition you mentioned Biofuel blending It's not just that we brought the target date from 2030 to 2025 For 20 blending, but 20 blended fuel will become available in our petrol banks by 1st of april 2023 So you're going to start on that PUC talked about flexi fuel engines. We're already talking to the manufacturers. It's something that's happening the transition to electric vehicles I yesterday had A meeting with an entrepreneur who's already in touch with Indian companies got patent aluminum air batteries now This is the kind of cutting-edge stuff and I think India is not only what steps India is taking If you make the transition to green energy Surely it should be anchored in a country which has large demand and consumption on its own Therefore, I think many of these players are coming here. I don't want to sound Dismissive but it's one thing for a country with a limited appetite and consumption To be shifting to green energy and another thing for a country like India To be going in and green hydrogen, I think the prime minister made it clear that we want to do this in mission mode There have been a little bit of hiccups here and there on the way But we are firmly going down that road. Some of our pilot projects have started I know one of my omcs has already started producing as part of a pilot project 2g second generation ethanol by Between august and december we would have done 90 million liters of ethanol produced from agricultural waste and bamboos so The transition will take place but a word of caution Transition by definition is moving from the current to that point We can't afford to get disrupted on the current. You will have to make sure there's enough energy which has been ensured available to people Six crore people go to fill up their tanks every day in Delhi. That's in India. Sorry 60 million people Five million barrels a day is our consumption. Clearly we are moving towards Green energy But that green energy transition will have to ensure that the present whilst you introduce more and more green energy By 10 blending we saved on those prices then 30 000 crores Today's prices being what they are and we go to 20 percent. You know what the Saving will be. Yes, it makes an economic sense. And of course it makes sense from a climate security perspective as well Mr. Goyal, let me ask you this because I would imagine that many in this room are interested to understand What the roadmap looks like the government is put in place a privatization policy No sector has been left out of it The legislative changes to enable banks to go the privatization route is still awaited But we've started with air india That's been done What do we expect now in terms of forward movement on on that front As well as the involvement of both domestic industry as well as foreign industry I think a very calibrated approach has been taken In consultation with bankers in consultation with all the stakeholders as far as Monetizing assets is concerned in a few cases Government getting out of the business where it doesn't have any business to be in And that calibrated approach is the right way to go There are some people who want everything to be done overnight. That's not the way we're going to have an orderly transition That's becoming the buzzword of this But you can't just overnight move everything from the government sector to the private sector For example in a situation like today Where a lot of relief is being sought to be given to the common man Particularly in petrol diesel prices I think our public sector companies are doing phenomenal work in kind of acting also as a shock absorber And giving relief to the common man So every industry has a very important and critical role to play We have to calibrate and gradually move out from the past and Sudden changes will only add to the disruption. I think it's moving at a good pace We've seen LIC happen which most people were very skeptical about air India. Nobody believed would happen After maybe 10 or 12 failed attempts And I think minister puri can take pride in the fact that a lot of it rather all of it happened while he was the Civil aviation ministry only closed the deal after he moved to petroleum but Overall if you see the pace at which we are doing it is very very Sensible in terms of the the appetite of the country We are looking at areas like textiles where we are getting totally out of that business Government has no business to be trying to sell You know, we have I think in NTC we have a hundred shops. Maybe more. I don't know we'd sell Day-to-day where all across south india doesn't make sense In fact, there's a very sad story that's emerging where some of the states are also Trying to say that okay, you privatize in the center and the state will buy it off I think that loses the very sense of privatization So we are talking to the states and getting them on board our approach is very consultative very Inclusive we take everybody along and therefore you'll see that there's been no stress In any of the actions that the government has taken it's all moved smoothly Rather than creating a stress and then trying to manage it You use the word shock absorber in the context of oil marketing companies and because they are Sharing a burden with with the government and they do have underrecoveries on both petrol and diesel Given that and given the volatile times that we live in do you believe that at least in some strategic sectors? Perhaps a pause on privatization may have to be considered We haven't got out that route at all, but by the way The underrecoveries in the short run are made up by a longer term action So for heaven's sake nobody gets the message that the oil companies of the government Are kind of taking on the losses on to themselves. They're behaving in a very fair and sensible manner Responsible citizens as responsible corporate citizens and companies who recognize that in the long run it's smart To be with the customer keep your customer your own rather than lose them out just for immediate gains So and and I think that's the kind of response I got from the steel industry I said it earlier when I was quite concerned that I'm going to get a lot of pushback or Negativity, but I'm I must compliment India steel industry The big players have all been in touch with me in the last two days All have shown tremendous sense of responsibility and understanding And have supported the government's effort to bring order into the marketplace I think this is this put gives a very good message It shows that India works as one it's team India that's working for the future of The country and that's the message that we want to give to all of our friends at Davos When you invest in India when you come to India you are investing in the India story It's not about one sector. It's not about one government or one set of political thinking Whether it's the judiciary or the media if I may Suggest whether it's business or the common man. We are all working Towards a collective better future for the people of India Right Sanjeev since we're talking about the future of India. I know Now that you've taken over as the president of ci i you've put together a 10-year roadmap as well in terms of what You would like industry to prioritize Cost competitiveness is going to be a big focus area Competitiveness across states is of course something that the government has been working on and now ci i intends to take that forward as well So layout for us the top five issues areas that industry will prioritize as we move forward towards the 2030 goal Okay, that's a pretty tough question and as you can see I'm sitting in a very sensitive spot over here But you're sandwiched Senior ministers One is industrious to continue to build internal competitiveness So within our factory walls while the government continues to build external competitiveness for the country That's something that we need to do second No Large industrial or no large developed country in the world has developed itself without a strong domestic financial services industry So we have to see how do we expand that in India? We must attract foreign capital We must attract them in a transparent consistent manner But foreign capital will eventually find the right locations And that can change over a period of time as we've seen in the last few months in India nothing wrong with that Domestic capital doesn't do that. So we have to build a strong domestic financial services industry Third key sectors to focus on that the world can look at India can look at where are we going to build Capability and capacity you need to do that fourth skill building 200 million Indians in the next 10 years will need jobs But they are also job providers for the world So work on that fifth The initiatives taken by the government on the startup ecosystem in five years We've become the third largest startup nation in the world over a hundred unicorns And you know somebody said the other day. No, no, that's surplus liquidity coming in. Okay So as I said, it's not 100 unicorns. They are 0.6 of a unicorn But there are 100 global globally capable Businesses set up by 20 30 year olds. When did this ever happen in India again? So we need to continue focusing there because then as the prime minister said your job Seekers are actually job creators. That's what the new India is showing And we can't stop center and states must work together So that overall any new business coming in land labor energy all this gets sorted out So ease of doing business continues to grow All this put together should take us out there I think that's a very comprehensive set of Areas that industry intends to focus on and of course in partnership with government I think we're almost at the end of our time. So let me get wrap up comments from each of you and minister Goyal I'll start by asking you I think you've given us a roadmap of what the government intends to focus on Let me specifically ask you on the trade and investment side And what you are now looking at from a commerce minister's perspective The move towards more bilateral arrangements, you know, there is a fear that could we see More de-globalization and what that could mean in terms of economies going forward as you engage with Countries Bilaterally as you engage with trading blocks. What do you believe will be the imperatives that will guide us? I think bilaterals will always prevail over Multilaterals in terms of trading blocks because it's easier to understand each other's sensitivities See what's good for each other in a bilateral arrangement And my own experience with UAE and australia two very important trading partners with huge potential markets for Indian goods and services Is that when you Lay out the rules of the game up front. You are sensitive to their concerns They are sensitive to your concerns. You can actually move really fast And we saw both these deals happening in under three months of serious negotiations My own sense is that globalization is not going to go away globalization will now mean Work amongst as was said earlier trusted partners work amongst democracies Work amongst rule-based economies, and I think that portends well for India particularly because we are Big on transparency. We are big on the rule of law. We are a democracy of vibrant democracy with a big set of young Talented people which the world is looking for every company I engage with said the biggest draw to India is the talent that we get our r&d grows significantly when we come to India We love to design in India. So I think Our relevance in global supply chains will continue to be strong Global supply chains may get reoriented, but will continue to prevail because As Ricardo said every country can't be good in everything. There'll be a comparative advantage Amongst nations for different products and we recognize that we are not against imports in any way We believe two-way trade is going to be good for the country Getting us what we need best from other parts and offering the best of India from India A billion plus people aspiring for a better quality of life Huge opportunity in India other countries also recognize it when we discuss trade deals India will be a 30 trillion dollar economy when most other countries would only have doubled their economic size And that's the big opportunity India offers to the world And I think that's the draw that's bringing more and more requests for trading arrangements with India You know the figures for foreign direct investment which came in by 31st march Compare that to what happened in 2004. It's a 20 times increase. You're looking at 84 billion dollars and in a difficult period I have no doubt that the Transformational change which is being brought about within the country Will result not only in goods and services, you know Sarvodaya to Antioch to the fathers first you're looking at those sections that he but there are great economic opportunities And that economic opportunity which India presents today whether it is technology companies You know people working on green energy people working and a host of other companies That will actually accelerate Now at any given point of time Investors are faced with a choice. I think Some of the developments that have taken place since 2020 that choice is narrowing more towards India And I mean We are doing some things, right? That is making India more attractive the prime minister's new India and India at 75 going on to India at 100 I mean what pujji is saying about the size of the economy? I you mentioned 20 27 instead of 20 25. I would like to have a discussion with you on that set. It's not my forecast, sir It's not my forecast. It's the IMF forecast as I said nine nine nine percent rate of growth and you know these Figures on where you are getting I mean despite the fact that you had a pandemic you had lockdowns, etc You're back to the that that that resilience that rebound has shown I am very Confident I'm as a person. I'm a little optimistic and bullish which is Part of the DNA, but I think the India story today and what you're witnessing here In Davos in terms of the attention and elsewhere You have you whether you it is a fund the international monetary funds assessments other assessments It's not that there are no challenges, but either we have the ability to Transform those challenges into opportunities as pujji said, which is what what the government is beginning to Reinforce each time. I think industry CII is apex body and under mr Bajaj's stewardship and the institution other members of all the stakeholders and the government I think there is a healthy understanding on the need to work If some steps have to be taken In the short run in order to fight inflation the fact that those are received in the right spirit and everybody's win Which is something I See conspicuous by its absence in the international system I mean if you look at surely The realization should dawn on everybody that if you have oil prices of 110 dollars It will result in a set of economic consequences in which yeah, even the People who are benefiting in the short run will also have to pay a price because it could impact on that So I think the India story is a good one. The India story Will become even better once these changes are taking place and we navigate out of the Pandemic totally. Thank you. Well, thank you very much minister Go in minister Puri and Sanjeev Bajaj for joining us here to take us through the India strategy Session and the outlook for where India finds itself in the short term as well as our aspirations and objectives of being able to Improve on each of these parameters that we've spoken off over the medium to long term Appreciate your time and thank you very much for joining us here and I was ladies gentlemen. Thank you very much