Step Up R&D for Sustainable Growth

- Kris Gopalkrishnan ( Co- founder & executive chairman INFOSYS )

Post the liberalisation of our economy in the early 1990s, India has been making great strides on the global stage with rapid growth in various industries. Indias GDP is projected to grow at over 7% over the next few years, making us one of the fastest growing global economies. Added to this is the expected impact of Indias demographic dividend, which is also likely to help India gain economic supremacy in the world. Just a few weeks back, at the end of October, we officially reached the 7 billion mark on the global population scale and notably, this addition was reportedly made in Uttar Pradesh, India. The world has grown quickly over the last century, adding around 1 billion people in the past decade. Although the rate of growth is slowing, Indias population is expected to continue climbing over the next four decades. In the past decade, the countrys population grew by 17.6% to 1.21 billion, according to the Census data. Based on current trends, India is set to soon overtake China as the worlds largest country. With a growing population that is consuming more each day, finding a sustainable balance between growth and natural resources is a vital question for us today. Additionally, India has a large population that continues to struggle with inequalities and lack of access to basic necessities and is ranked at 134 on the UNDPs Human Development Index. Indias rapid economic growth over the last decade has come with a hidden environmental cost, but the country has an opportunity to take the lead in creating the infrastructure for sustainable growth. This is something India can take leadership in, because we need it for our own use. If we start consuming like developed countries, it will be a disaster. So, there is an opportunity for us to create sustainable, affordable services for a better world. At the national level, we will need policies that tackle social, economic as well as environmental concerns none of these can be viewed in isolation. We will also need to encourage the setting up of small and medium enterprises especially focusing on the setting up of hubs of innovation and entrepreneurship, generating employment and innovating to deal with the immediate problems of catering to one of the worlds largest markets. With these in mind, I suggest the following as national agenda:

1
Sustainability and sustainable development are for 21st century what ICT was in the second half of 20th century. We need to increase research and development on new products, services and business models for sustainable development. India can lead the world in these as these are needed for our own development. The 5 billion people in developing nations need these and are the market for these innovations.

2
We need to simplify the laws and policies such that it is easier and less expensive to start new businesses. We need to encourage entrepreneurship in a big way. This wave of reforms must help the setting up and development of vibrant small and medium enterprises across the country.

3
We need to open up the education sector as we opened up the business and industry in 1991. This will ensure that we can encourage new participants to enter the education sector as well as improve the quality and quantity of education. We need to invest in upgrading vocational training infrastructure with private participation.

4
We need to invest heavily into advanced research through public-private partnership. These are required for us to lead in product development of the future. And this will enable us to grow the manufacturing base in the country.

5
We need to invest in telecommunication infrastructure, especially broadband, to help connect the most remote parts of the country. This will enable us to take services like education and healthcare to the remote reaches of the country. All government services and projects must also leverage ICT to ensure transparency and timely delivery of services and projects.

6
We need to have a comprehensive plan to make our cities more liveable. We need to create new cities with master plans that make sure that these cities are sustainable urban centers. We need to create a set of national missions around these with clear time lines, deliverables and accountability. We need to monitor these to ensure that India reaches its full potential of equitable economic growth.