The Economist set the Course for Sustainable Growth at the Annual India Summit 2019

/ -- The Economist Events' India Summit convened more than 170 business leaders, entrepreneurs, leading academics and the foremost experts for a full day of fruitful discussions.

Under the theme 'Setting course for sustainable growth', the event put the spotlight on how India is performing on socio-economic issues from attracting investment and supporting agriculture to tackling unemployment and reforming energy policies.

The day kicked off with panellists taking a hard look at some of the concerns that need to be addressed to prop up a slowing economy. Sanjay Jha, national spokesperson for the Indian National Congress, reckons, "The government has blown an opportunity and lacks vision. For all the talks of ease of doing business in India, there is a lot of regulatory cholesterol." What was more worrying for Prachi Mishra of Goldman Sachs was the "consumption slowdown that predates the non-banking financial crisis."
Also, if "India has to become a $5tr economy, the banking sector has to step up in terms of credit growth," said Zarin Daruwala, chief executive at Standard Chartered Bank India. But it is not all doom and gloom. For instance, "The cost of labour has gone up in China. A lot of countries are looking for alternatives," she said. 'India can step up and grab that share. In China, the largest garment manufacturer has a $25bn turnover. In India, we don't have one (manufacturer) that is one-fifth (of that amount). That's a big opportunity."
SPEAKERS INCLUDED:
Suneeta Reddy, managing director, Apollo Hospitals Group
Umang Vohra, managing director and global chief executive, Cipla
Crispin Simon, British deputy high commissioner, Mumbai, and director-general economic, trade and investment, India; HM Trade Commissioner for South Asia
Jay Chen, chief executive, Huawei India
Sanjay Jha, National spokesperson, Indian National Congress
Amitabh Behar, chief executive, Oxfam India
Rohit Kapoor, chief executive officer, new real estate businesses, OYO
Divya Maderna, member of legislative assembly, Rajasthan
Hemant Kanoria, chairman, Srei Infrastructure Finance
Zarin Daruwala, chief executive, Standard Chartered Bank India
Saket Hishikar, chief manager (economist), economic research department, State Bank of India
Ronnie Screwvala, co-founder and chairman, upGrad; co-founder, Swades Foundation
Padma Parthasarathy, senior vice-president and global head, consulting and digital services, Tech Mahindra
Parul Agarwala, officer-in-charge, United Nations Human Settlements Programme (UN-Habitat)
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