Operating at scale

From the first Budget to today, India's economy has changed, requiring boards to adapt and think on a global scale

Presenting the second Budget of independent India and the first for a full 12-month period in 1948-49, Finance Minister R K Shanmukham Chetty estimated the revenue for the full year to be Rs 256.28 crore, with expenditures at Rs 257.37 crore, leaving him to deal with a deficit of Rs 1.09 crore. The Budget aimed at improving the lives of 340 million Indians.

Today, conservatively, 1,592 listed companies have revenues greater than Rs 256 crore.

Reliance Industries Ltd closed its last financial year with a top line of Rs 9.7 trillion ($118.6 billion). Data from the International Monetary Fund for