Post-Covid world order offers limitless opportunity for India: Tata Sons Chairman

The post-Covid-19 new world order offers limitless opportunity for India but for the country to be ready to participate in it, there is a need to establish regulatory standards on data and taxation in general, Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran said on Saturday.

Speaking at the 93rd annual convention of industry Chamber FICCI, he also said that if the idea “that the 2020s belong to India” has to be realised, industry should be bold and start visioning all projects at scale, while there is also a need a new focus on talent, enable data and bandwidth.

“I see a collaborative role between the industry and the government here...The government should enable this partnership and to make India ready to participate in this new world, it should ensure that every village has sufficient bandwidth and affordable data,” Chandrasekaran said.

He added that the government should also establish the regulatory standards that are required on data privacy, data residency, data localisation and taxation in general.

Stating that there is tremendous and limitless opportunity for India in the aftermath of the coronavirus pandemic, he said that in the past, India has often struggled to grow manufacturing as a percentage of GDP.

“We usually highlight issues like power, logistics and labour. We have pointed (out) high interest rates and also have underscored overreach and interference.

“But, in the future, if we put this behind, by visioning our scale we will become a pivot for the new world order,” he said.

Chandrasekaran said his years at TCS shaped him in such a way that his roots are embedded in technology, which made him see the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on India on a positive frame of mind.

He stressed on the need to reimagine “the whole technology blueprint nationwide” and make technologies like robotics and AI (artificial intelligence) become part of the mainstay of manufacturing.

“We need to recognise the fact that tech manufacturing and energy are converging in the creation of new platforms and new ecosystems,” he added.

Stating that the coronavirus pandemic “exacerbated global supply chains and clearly outlined a new global world order”, Chandrasekaran reiterated that “2020 marks the decoupling of China and the US. What it means is countries and companies will need to de risk and balance their supply chain” in the future.

If India’s first plank for the 21st Century is digital, he said the second plank is a new approach to global value chain.

“India’s strength is our largest talent pool, and we can leverage this to become a key player in the global value chain.

“The vulnerabilities exposed by the pandemic, and the new geopolitical order only accelerates this opportunity and the time is now,” Chandrasekaran asserted.

Underscoring environmental resilience as the third plank for India, he said, “Within two decades, nearly 20 new energy sources could likely be powering the global economy.” Chandrasekaran added that “energy efficiency in mobility, solar manufacturing and rethinking our food supply chain are areas to focus as we emerge from the pandemic”.

He said the Tata group is not only strengthening on digitising its existing businesses, but it is also spearheading new platforms in areas like tech manufacturing, future mobility, renewable, health and also will work with SMEs to unlock their potential for the economy.