WGS 2018: India Urged To Create More Jobs For Youth, Entrepreneurial Culture To Become A Global Economic Force

 A plenary panel session on day one of the sixth World Government Summit (WGS 2018) debated whether this year’s guest nation India could ever lead the global economy in the future, and discussed the issues that could hold up any progress.

According to the World Economic Forum, India is the seventh largest economy in the world and is expected to be the second largest by 2050. With a population of over one billion, and 29 separate states, the subcontinent faces some challenges.

Shobana Kamineni, President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), was joined on the panel by Chairman Hero Enterprises Sunil Kant Munjal, Dr Rajiv I Modi, Chairman and Managing Director of Cadila Pharmaceuticals Limited and C P Gurnani, Managing Director and CEO of Tech Mahindra Ltd., for the session ‘Will India Lead the Global Economy in the Future?’

The panel discussed India’s current economic position, and what needs to be done in the future to improve the lives of a population of over one billion. When discussing the prospect of becoming a global leader, Gurnani said: “It depends what you mean by being a global leader, and how far into the future you are talking about. There are certain sectors where India is already becoming a global leader – infrastructure, healthcare and education.  Much work still needs to be done to help small and mid-sized companies.”

Munjal supported this stance by explaining that India has already taken on some of the most ambitious infrastructure projects in the world, notably in the agricultural, manufacturing and education sectors.  He also explained how the government was working on a cluster approach in infrastructure development to promote manufacturing and economic activity, stating that this had demonstrated a great multiplier effect.