Open the doors please !

India does  not seem to be a colorful land at present. But across, the country one prominent color seems to stand out. Red. I know I am exaggerating. But with one entire industry in Red -Airlines, Automobile sector on a nose dive growth, and currency loosing its value like the bollywood movies, the picture is definitely not rosy. Far apart form the economics of it, inflation is at an all time high, which seems to be a an issue of  supply side deficiency &  with RBI rising the rates 10 times in as many months have failed to curb inflation and has resulted in the consumer bearing the brunt of paying more each fortnightly. As quoted by prominent scientist Dr Swaminathan, there is demand supply gap for vegetables and fruits and other commodities.(www.goo.gl/0qVf1).
Apart form this we are completely having no industrial policy being passed in the last 12 months. The govt seems to be confounded by a plethora of corruption scandals and one man trying to bring the government to its knees, have weakened policy making and has resulted in chaos at home. I know there is no magic wand, but when opportunity exists in the domestic market its a crime not to utilize it well. When I talk about opportunities, I can easily reflect on the industry that am working with. FMCG and organized retail will bring a revolution and look at the opportunities associated with it. From logistics to packaging, real estate to supply chain management, the growth that it will bring about is humongous. Not that I am talking something new, but no one seems to be paying a heed to this at all. Today I woke up to the news of cabinet passing the law to raise FDI in single brand retail. Its a good step forward. But I fail to understand why when it comes to passing a bill that primarily benefits developed nation (read Americans), aka Nuclear Bill, FDI in retail, we take ages and ages. Why do we fear. Why do we underestimate that Indian companies will suffer. Why dont we trust our entrepreneurial abilities ? When the telecom revolution happened, Airtel, was the leader among all. Before Koreans could invade us with their TV's we had our Videocon. And, even now, the Micromax et all are doing well exceeding expectations. Hence time has come for us to just open up, we Indians are fighters, and am sure we will rise up to the occasion and will not let a Wal - Mart rule us and , for sure only good will be done to the major population.
Before I close, I must insist that, only countries with good focus on internal policy will have a say in the world. Learn from the Chinese. 20 years they spend working on creating strong internal policies that generated growth and development, today because of which they have a voice in this planet. Americans always had a strong internal policy of encouraging innovation & entrepreneurship, because of which they are what they are, they lost the plot when they went for a war. I simply believe that, one strong internal policy of opening up of the economy led us to where we are and ,as they say in philosophy, look within and you ll find answers to all your problems.
Betting on a bright India, I just welcome all investors to trust this land its people. Dr. Singh, please open the doors for these gentlemen, trust us, we ll take care of ourselves. !!  

India - Focus on agriculture for a strong Future

The Turn of centuary saw India emerging as a strong economy. This was attributed to the strong policies and a young and vibrant democracy; Acadmically inclined youth and a desire to succeed. But one of the main reason other than the opportunities for business here is the fact that wages were lower compared to the more developed economies. But has anyone wondered why the wages are low. Its simply coz the food cost is low. Food consumption is the major driver of the economy. Consider this, The money earned by a person is primarily spent on food , clothing and shelter. As far as India Is concerened food and clothing we are self sufficient. This helped us in keeping the prices of these commodities low.

So here is the catch. In this season of inflation we should ask ourselves what is happening? The country is not able to meet the food requirements of this nation with a vast poppulation that with sufficient spending power. The continued increase on prices of essenstial commodities would result in an upward salry demand. This would on the long run result in India not being a preferred partner in trade as salary would match that of developed nations. This may happen within the next 25 years at the current inflation rate. The prices of goods are expected to be 5 times of what it is now.

The only way to prevent that and protect the country's growing stature is to ensure food security. There should be a strong focus on agriculture, and the next 5 year plans should give prime importance to this. A green revolution and a white revolution made India what it is today. Thanks to the efforts of Swaminathan and Kurien we are a nation that rarely imports food. But times are changing and if we are not prepared to meet the increased demand, a good chance that the inflation would consume us and result in slowing down of industrialisation. A consumer state is always on the tenter hook. This is what happened to US in the recent times. A reason why they had  to go for outsourcing.

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