Latest news with #B.V.R
The Hindu
2 days ago
- Business
- The Hindu
Entrepreneurship is not a choice, but a national necessity, says founder-Chairman of Cyient Mohan Reddy
Bifurcation has put Andhra Pradesh at a disadvantage with limited development in the last 10 years. Though the strength of the State lies in its human resources, the government needs to put in place supporting infrastructure to make optimum use of the talent pool. 'The State government is now focused on building this infrastructure, and once it's in place, human resources and infrastructure will work in tandem like a 'jugalbandi', producing something truly remarkable,' says founder-Chairman of Cyient and Padma Shri recipient B.V.R. Mohan Reddy. Cyient had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the representatives of the All-India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) here on Wednesday to establish an innovation cluster in Visakhapatnam. Speaking to The Hindu, Mr. Mohan Reddy says the project's aim is to promote entrepreneurship, as it generates jobs, drives innovation, and creates wealth. 'It builds ecosystems that support long-term growth. That's why this is a passion project for me. Even after stepping down from my operational role at Cyient, I've continued to work on initiatives to foster innovation and entrepreneurship, including the BVR SCIENT (School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship) at IIT-Hyderabad,' Mr. Mohan Reddy says. 'To truly move the needle, we need to build entrepreneurship at scale. But departments have limited budget and corporates can do only limited stuff. So we can start at one place and scale it up later,' he says, and explains why he chose to begin in Visakhapatnam. 'Cyient has a strong presence in the Port City, with around 1,000 employees and good infrastructure, making it a logical starting point. Once a pilot succeeds, governments can step in and expand it,' he avers. Partnering with AICTE gives us reach across engineering institutions in the country. It's a powerful synergy, he adds. Objectives On the key indicators of success he envisions over the next few years out of the project, he says its too early to assign numbers. 'We have outlined two major objectives. First, we must instil an entrepreneurial mindset in our youth. That doesn't always mean starting a business. It's about thinking like an owner, having purpose, accountability, and a drive to create value. This mindset can significantly raise productivity. The second objective is to improve outcomes from existing incubation centers in colleges,' he says. 'Many institutions have incubators simply to tick boxes. There's often no real output. We want to change that by involving industry mentors, not just professors, and helping students understand go-to-market strategies, business planning, and product-market fit. We will help them in terms of market access,' Mr. Mohan Reddy says. Funding To ensure long-term continuity of the project, he says the funding will be both through Cyient's CSR arm and his family Foundation. 'We are serious about outcomes,' he stresses, citing the example of his organisation's work with 34 government schools in Telangana. 'We have achieved 56% girl child enrolment, up from much lower numbers,' he says, pointing out that recently 54 of the total 100 students in the Telangana Board's 10th grade results came from his schools. 'Our approach is driven by measurable outcomes,' he reiterates. About the role of the industry, he says it will be primarily of knowledge partners. 'They can offer subject matter expertise, business mentoring, and marketing know-how. Their experience is invaluable in guiding students from ideation to product.' Speaking about student support, he says it will begin with stimulating curiosity. 'Why can't we do this differently?' From there, innovation emerges, followed by entrepreneurship,' he says, informing Cyient is working with the State government to rethink curricula and pedagogy. 'This isn't just about awareness; it's about practical skill-building and hands-on experience,' he says. Inclusivity Mr. Mohan Reddy says inclusivity is central to his mission. 'Many of the institutions we are working with are located in rural or semi-urban areas. We are actively working to ensure that similar outreach happens through the innovation cluster, especially in northern Andhra Pradesh and other underserved regions,' he says. On possible replication of the project, he says scalability will depend on funding. Mr. Mohan Reddy opines that for a nation like India, entrepreneurship is no longer a choice, it's an imperative. 'We have the advantage of demographic dividend, but it is also a challenge of creating enough jobs. Our ambition of becoming a Viksit Bharat by 2047 makes entrepreneurship a national necessity,' he signs off.
CNBC
29-05-2025
- Business
- CNBC
CNBC's Inside India newsletter: India is set to be the world's fourth-largest economy — but sustained growth will warrant more reforms
A top Indian official's recent claim that the South Asian powerhouse has become the world's fourth-largest economy has created a lot of buzz in the country's social media, with an outpouring of self-congratulatory messages. While India has taken giant strides in boosting its GDP — it was ranked No. 10 in 2014 — and continues to be the fastest-growing major economy, it's best to take the latest claims with a fistful of salt. Briefing the media on Sunday, B.V.R. Subrahmanyam, CEO of India's state-run think tank Niti Aayog said, "we are the fourth-largest economy as I speak ... and this is not my data. This is IMF [international monetary fund] data." "India today is larger than Japan," Subrahmanyam said, adding that the nation will go on to displace Germany as the third-largest economy and place just behind the U.S. and China in around three years. IMF data, however, projects India's economy to reach $4.187 trillion in 2025, marginally surpassing Japan's $4.186 trillion. So while not already there, the country is very much on the path to becoming the fourth-largest economic powerhouse, preceded by Germany, China and the U.S. Keeping the trajectory in focus, and putting aside the merits of the claim, what is it that's working for the country — and what is holding it back? "Long-term structural dynamic," driven by India's huge demographic and growing educated youth population, is enhancing India's capabilities in technology and services, while also paving its ambitions to become a manufacturing hub, said Malcolm Dorson, senior portfolio manager at Global X ETFs — one of the largest foreign asset owners in India. Dorson also sees "tactical tailwinds" from lower oil and higher gold prices, given India imports around 80% of its energy needs, while roughly 20% of the nation's household savings in physical gold. Collectively, these factors make India a "fine-tuned compounding machine," he said, adding that the country gaining a spot in the top four by GDP ranking "is a done deal." Dhiraj Nim, foreign exchange strategist and economist at ANZ Bank agrees: It should not be surprising if India becomes the world's fourth-largest economy around mid to end this year, aided by improving domestic consumption as demand in rural clusters improves. Consumption constitutes over 56% of India's economy — making it the top growth engine. Rural areas accounted for nearly 40% of overall consumer goods sales in the first quarter of 2025, data from market research firm NielsenIQ shows. A sizable number of India's rural population is farmers, so Nim expects a pickup in their spending in the upcoming quarters with better weather conditions facilitating higher crop yields and in turn stronger income and purchasing power, with falling inflation also supporting consumption. He also expects urban consumption to grow, albeit at a slower pace, following tax cuts and stimulus doled out in the budget earlier this year, with more rate cuts by the Reserve Bank of India offering an added boost. The benefits of India's economic growth will translate into increased capital flows, as foreign investors would want to capitalize on it, Dorson said. "This could lead to higher valuations, which inherently would translate into more supply, and deeper capital markets. We could also see Indian equities more prominently included in global exchanges, which would lead to more flows," he said. India has strong tailwinds supporting its economy, but it needs to undertake several reforms to ensure sustained growth. While India is set to be the world's fourth-largest economy, there is a "huge disconnect in the standard of living and the social, economic and physical infrastructural between India and Japan," Shumita Deveshwar, chief India economist at TS Lombard said. India's current per capita GDP is $2,880, a fraction of Japan's $33,960, IMF data shows. "There's so much work that really needs to be done in India to bridge this gap and it starts from increasing capital expenditure on infrastructure such as transportation networks, to improving access to education, workforce skills upgrading and jobs in general," Deveshwar noted. ANZ's Nim calls India becoming the world's fourth-largest economy merely a "natural course of events." "It really means not much to me. India is now the fifth-largest economy, but is not very prosperous, so more work needs to be done to increase the prosperity of citizens," he said, flagging the need for India to be more open to foreign businesses which already have an incentive to be in the country given its cheap cost structures. He suggests that policymakers strategically identify sectors India has a comparative advantage in, rather than try to manufacture everything. Focusing on select industries over a range of sectors will ensure that the workforce has the needed skills to make quality products that are competitive against those produced in other emerging markets with lower costs. Deveshwar highlights that policymakers should ensure that reforms are meted out quickly, so that growth is sustained. Lack of capacity, manpower and physical infrastructure have historically held back policy rollouts, so effective execution is needed to meet quite aspirational and ambitious targets. "There have been hurdles and lags in policy implementation such as in passing labor reforms, farm reforms and other incomplete reforms that have really delayed the productivity and output in many sectors. We need to fix that so India remains competitive and sustains its position as the world's fourth — or eventually even third largest economy," Deveshwar added. A trade deal between India and U.S. could be reached in late June. Negotiations are progressing quickly and U.S. officials are expected to visit India soon to discuss the deal further, reported CNBC-TV18, which cited government sources. Imports of genetically modified crops from the U.S. will still be prohibited by New Delhi because of regulation, but non-modified agricultural products could see the green light. India's shipment of iPhones to the U.S. jumped in April. Market analyst firm Canalys, now part of Omdia, estimates that total shipment rose 76% year on year to around 3,000,000. By contrast, China's iPhone shipments to the U.S. fell to 900,000 in the same month, plummeting roughly 76% from a year earlier. The huge shifts in numbers are because of harsh tariffs the White House imposed on China, Omdia said. U.S. President Donald Trump told Apple CEO Tim Cook he wants iPhones built in America. Smartphones manufactured outside the U.S., whether in "India, or anyplace else," wrote Trump on his social media platform Truth Social, will incur a "Tariff of at least 25%." Analysts have said it would be a tall feat for Apple to shift production to America because of supply chain and cost issues. Apple is also continuing to expand its operations in India. — Indian stocks were trading flat Thursday even as most Asian markets rose after a U.S. federal trade court ruled that President Donald Trump exceeded his authority with his "reciprocal" tariffs. The benchmark Nifty 50 and the BSE Sensex were little changed as of 12.10 p.m. Indian Standard Time. Since the start of the year, the 50-stock benchmark has risen 4.6%, while the BSE Sensex has gained over 4%. The benchmark 10-year Indian government bond yield were down marginally at 6.171%. On CNBC TV this week, Nikhil Bhandari, Goldman Sachs' co-head of APAC natural resource and clean energy research, said the bank believes India's oil demand will be the "fastest growing" among large economies over the next two decades because of income growth in the country. However, as India's oil production is flat, the South Asian nation will have to rely on diversifying its import sources for energy security. Meanwhile, Abrar Mir, managing partner at Quadria Capita, a private equity firm that focuses on healthcare companies, said that there's "significant" innovation happening in India's hospital sector. Businesses in the country are building high quality hospital systems that serve the underprivileged in rural areas, while doing it in a financially viable way, which is an "eminently exportable business model," Mir said. — India's first-quarter economic growth data, out Friday, will give an indication if the country's economy can meet its growth target for the current fiscal year. With four mainline initial public offerings the upcoming week, India's IPO market seems to be picking up. May 30: India gross domestic product data for FY25 fourth quarter June 2: India HSBC manufacturing PMI, final reading, for May, Aegis Vopak Terminals IPO, Schloss Bangalore IPO June 3: Prostarm Info Systems IPO June 4: India HSBC services PMI, final reading, for May, Scoda Tubes IPO —
Mint
26-05-2025
- Business
- Mint
Let's not oversell our $4 trillion economy
On Saturday, Niti Aayog CEO B.V.R. Subrahmanyam cited data from the International Monetary Fund to say that India was overtaking Japan this year to become the world's fourth-largest national economy, with only the US, China and Germany larger. Also Read: It's time to lay the great Indian GDP controversy to rest 'We are a $4 trillion economy as I speak," he was quoted as saying. To put this in a physical perspective, if this sum were to be stacked up in wads of $1 bills, it would form a stack 437,360km-high—longer than the distance to the Moon. Also Read: The state of India's economy is not as bright as GDP data may suggest This is impressive, like the other marker we frequently highlight: of India being the world's fastest growing major economy. The country's heft on the world stage and attraction as an investment destination should grow accordingly. Also Read: Mint Quick Edit | Can India avoid a middle-income trap? Yet, by global reckoning, we remain in the lower middle income bracket, which spells a need to keep our signalling balanced. Although the broad idea that developing countries need a special leg-up in everyone's interest has fallen out of favour in the US, it could survive today's upheavals. To sustain and advance this argument multilaterally, we should make it a point to keep showing solidarity with the Global South on the challenge of uplifting livelihoods.
