Unlike the regular boring tuesday afternoons, 29th April happened to be a day I could value for long. It was raining knowledge at Vigyan Bhawan & Le Meridien, the venues for CII annual convention. The hall was filled with titans of India Inc., patiently waiting to listen to Dr. Manmohan Singh, the country's most educated PM ever. With general elections next year, populist union budget, soaring inflation, fears of recession and the long list of star studded speakers, the grand stage was set. For a change this time, invited were we, a team of 12 humble bimtechians in a crowd of industry captains who never seemed to know that management could be taught outside iims.
The PM was sharp in time, standing upto his reputation. Sunil Bharti Mittal, the outgoing president of CII requested the PM to avoid taking steps in absorbing liquidity from the market since it could possibly disturb the momentum of industries building capacities. He added that in the long run, increased capacities will alone help salvage increasing demand. In reply, the PM requested the industry to co operate with the government in containing inflation. For the time being, India Inc., at least responded with a round of applause. Following this session, Ms. Sonia Gandhi chairperson of the ruling UPA spoke on the theme 'Building people - Building India'. The other prominent speakers for the day were Minister for Commerce & Industry Kamal Nath, Finance minister P. Chidambaram, Deputy-Chairman of the planning commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Congress MP Sachin Pilot, CPM MP Mohammed Ali, Gujarat CM Narendra Modi, NCP MP Supriya Sule from Maharashtra, Sagarika Ghose of CNN-IBN among several others. Inflation and role of industry in curbing it dominated the day. Private participation in education, need for infrastructure development, trade pacts and their potential effects on industry were also discussed.
Commerce minister Kamal Nath addressing the most powerful industry lobby in the country, reiterated his support for robust growth and asked the industry to stop whining about the free trade agreements (FTAs) in the anvil. He admitted that the FTAs will put the Indian industry on a level playing field with foreign entities competing for the same markets. Still, he beleives that this will improve the efficiency of the Indian industry and make them more competitive.
The FM who was seen on TV concluding the budget session in the parlaiment with his speech just minutes earlier, walked in as a surprise. He did have a strong message for the industry, that might not have amused many. The concerns of current inflation screening all of UPA's past achievements had certainly put a lot of pressure on the minister. He raised the issue of industry being short sighted by not cutting down profits in spite of repeated requests from the government. Sunil Mittal, while thanking the minister said that he had got the message clear "the government will do everything possible to curb inflation, with the help of industry if possible, otherwise without them".
Delhi CM Shiela Dixit spoke on the preparations for common wealth among other issues in the capital. Answering questions on the infamous BRT corridor, the CM looking forward for a third term in office, repeated that 70% of people using the pilot corridor of 5.8 km use buses and are happy with the project. Another speaker who made a mark was Sachin Pilot, the young face of aging congress. Wharton educated Pilot showed signs of a wise, seasoned politician despite his young age. He is an inspiration for aspiring leaders of tomorrow. He handled the questions from veteran Sagarika Ghose of CNN-IBN tactfully. His observations on teacher absenteeism in primary schools and issues with higher education in India deserve compliments.
Narendra Modi was quite impressive, giving his critics reasons to worry yet again. He kept the whole gathering of businessmen actively listening to him for all one and half hours of his speech. He confidently took questions from the gathering (the maximum of all speakers) with much ease. One gentleman couldn't resist asking, "Modiji when are you arriving at Delhi?". Modi's spoke about the development Gujarat has seen in the past 10 years, rapid renovation after the major earth quake, vast use of renewable sources of energy in the state etc. He invited industry captains to invest in Gujarat. The CM enjoying his third term in office, detailed his government's actions in bringing about higher literacy, in making educated people employable and in increasing the usage of renewable sources of energy (majorly wind and solar). The enthusiastic invitaion from the CM to the investment conference to be held in the state capital in January had already generated a lot of interest. His track record in improving the agricultural produce by 12% in his state while the nation was struggling to attain 4%, and his statement that " The Government has no business to do business" recieved big rounds of applause.
The second day of the convention was characterized with speakers of the league of Shri. L.K. Advani, Minister for Science and Technology Kapil Sibal, former minister for disinvestment Arun Shourie, the all powerful CPI(M) MP and polit bureau member Sitaram Yechury. From the industry, Rahul Bajaj, DLF's K.P. Singh, Murugappa group's Subbaiah, Arun Bharat Ram of SRF discussed the issues concerning family businesses.
Advaniji's speech circled around hard core politics, ranging from the Baalu issue to Karnataka assembly polls and inflation woes. It seems that age has taken away a little charm of his. Arun Shourie was more of an economist than a leader from the opposition. He was in the session with Kapil Sibal and Sitaram Yechury. Kapil Sibal, a brilliant lawyer himself was caught helpless in between Shourie's statistically backed arguments and Yechury's oratory skills. Yechury, the prominent left leader failed to impress business men as such but he certainly had a message for the nation. Proclamations of roaring economy and growth is faulty simply because it has worsened the life of majority of Indians. Its not so long before it could backfire. He pointed out several things that could have been done by the government to curb inflation.
Listening to stalwarts with different views on similar issues certainly makes us think differently. The CII convention overall had given enough food for thought.
