Govt should focus on growth of 10 key industries, says Ram Charan

Ram Charan said India should focus on building 10 major industries with deep value chains to enhance global competitiveness and strengthen supply chain positioning

The government should focus its energies on the growth of 10 major industries, which should include sectors such as the textile segment, to ensure sustained growth for India in the years to come, management guru and author Ram Charan said.

 

India, he said, is a large enough market for these industries’ products and will also put the country on the global supply chain map. He was speaking at the launch of his new book, “China’s 90% Model”, at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress.

 

In these focus industries, the priority should be deepening value chains rather than creating a mass market flooded with low-value, low-quality goods, Charan said. 

Once these industries with deep value chains are established, India could become an alternative destination for manufacturing and supply chains, and countries such as the United States are likely to welcome that move, he said. 

India’s decision to spend money in the semiconductor business, for example, will be critical in the days to come, he said.

 

Globally, software-defined industries with low marginal costs will be the engines of countries’ exponential growth.

 

“Here in India, the consumer may be ready, but the scale is not big enough to compete with the Chinese,” he said.

 

While the strategy of choosing 10 industries and growing them to compete globally may mimic China’s approach, India should not make the mistake of running them centrally, as the Chinese government does, Charan said.