“ This is India’s century,” says Renjen as he now moves to German tech firm SAP as deputy chairperson after retiring from Deloitte (he takes over as chairman mid next year). However, while being bullish on India, Renjen adds that India’s growth needs to be inclusive and leaving a large chunk of people underserved is a “worrying trend” for democracy. Excerpts from an interview with TOI:
You once said “I” in innovation stands for India. Is that the Indian in you who’s speaking? Or do you really believe it is India’s time?
Well, I do believe it is the time for India, rather it is India’s century. And I believe in India emotionally. I think if you’re not in India, you’re making a mistake.
If you look at India from where it was when you left the country for the US in eighties, what are the biggest differences?
If the situation that exists today existed in the 1980s, I don’t know if I would have left India. For a young person, the opportunities that India affords are exceptional… it is pretty remarkable that India is now the fifth-largest economy, soon to be the third largest economy.
What is difference between India of today, and then?
Just the development. Let’s take digital as an example, the embracing of digital across the country, from the government to business, and leveraging it. For example, Aadhaar. Also, I think the mindset. Indians believe that they are a consequential country and they have a leadership role to play in the affairs of the world, particularly in the Global South. This has been a recent 10-15 years of phenomenon. The development here has been pretty remarkable. For example, if you consider the metro rail network in Delhi or overall infrastructure investments or kilometres of roads built every day. It has been a transformative journey.
However, as we go down this path of development, we have to do this development in our own image, we can’t replicate the development journey that the West took. And we can’t pollute our way to development. So, we have to leverage technology, we have to do it in a uniquely Indian way. It has to be inclusive, we have to take along on this journey, the many, many millions of people that have been traditionally underserved and have been backward.
Do you also increasingly find this disparity where one section is thriving, the other section is yet to reap the benefits? Is it very stark?
This isn’t a uniquely Indian problem. Income disparity is an issue that plagues the world. And, it has increased in last number of decades. Globalisation, and the digital revolution has benefited a smaller group of society and hasn’t been as inclusive. We can’t afford that in India, we have to have inclusive growth. It is a worrying trend for democracy. As a vibrant democracy, if you leave behind a large chunk of society, I think it has a potential to not being able to sustain the democratic traditions.
How do you see the Indian economy and how do you compare it to Western economies?
India’s growth rate is probably the highest amongst the G20 countries. It is really remarkable, but has to be faster than 6%, because we need to be able to truly impact the population at large before we lose this window of the demographic dividend. We need to move up faster.
Do you think it’s the right strategy to look at China and position ourselves as a competing economy?
I think we have to chart our own course… I don’t view a competitive environment between China and India. Each country needs to chart its own path.