CONFERENCE

The session began with the welcome address by Mr. Jayant Davar, Chairman, CII Northern Region. He greeted the guests and said the reform agenda needs to ensure facilitating environment along with all the vital sectors of the economy.

Dr. C. Rangarajan, Chairman, Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister delivered the keynote address and stated "rapid and efficient implementation of the projects predominantly in the infrastructure sector, with all the contemplation of environment is the need of the day and also the means to achieve higher economic and inclusive growth" . Dr. Rangarajan emphasized that there is an urgent need to prioritize the expense over subsidies and the country’s image has to be enhanced as a lucrative investment destination. He also informed about the need to improve governance by enhancing the delivery system of the government (both centre and state). He stressed that it is needed for all the stakeholders of various sectors to build a consensus on the problems and the issues and take it further to the government to act upon it.

Next speaker was Mr. D. K. Joshi, Chief Economist, CRISIL Ltd. who addressed the audience and said that the core issues of the North lie in power, land and labor reforms. He stated that the bottlenecks in following the procedure have to be smoothened for better results.

Mr. Naoyoshi Noguchi, Chief Director General, JETRO in his talk stated that recent reforms like the creation of the cabinet committee on investment to expedite government clearance, approval of the companies’ bill are some of the steps in right direction but much more is required to be done to accelerate India’s growth. This includes ending the delays in various procedures during clearances, implementation and revival.

Mr. Zubin J Irani, Deputy Chairman, CII Northern Region gave the concluding remarks and said though a lot is being done to revive the growth in Northern India through various reforms and positive governance but it cannot be successful till the time it becomes inclusive.

Session 2: Panel Discussion 1: Fostering Inclusive Growth through Good Governance dwelled upon:

1. The challenge of governance for the common man, for corporate and for the government and how this issue can be resolved collectively by the region to foster faster growth.

2. How inclusive growth can play a role in broad basing the society.

Mr. Jayant Davar, Chairman, CII Northern Region was the moderator in the panel and began saying inclusive growth aims to create economic growth with equality of opportunity. India has witnessed one of the fastest growth rates in the recent decades. However this growth has been uneven across the region with rising disparities in income.

Highlighting the importance of inclusive growth, Mr. Arun Maira, Member, Planning Commission who was the keynote speaker said that the progress in the inclusive growth has to be brought down to the grassroots to actually meet the dreams and aspirations of the people of the country. He imperatively stated that the foundation of good governance rests on the pillars of public participation and accountability, government efficiency and corruption control.

Mr. Manish Sisodia, Founding member, Aam Aadmi Party who was one of the panelists in the session emphasized that the overall growth of the country is not possible without the inclusivity. He stated that for inclusive growth, bribery and corruption has to be eradicated from the country which could be done only by setting up a strongly honest and dedicated system. Mr. Sisodia clearly highlighted a 3 point action plan: honest and courageous politics, change in the outdated laws and policies and a changed education system which has to be available to all.

“The ideology of development was requiring more efforts and substantial reforms” said Mr. Subodh Bhargava, Chairman, CII Public Policy Council & Chairman Tata Communications Ltd. He also added that transparency and accountability are the strongest ways for effective governance.

Ms. Chhavi Rajawat, Director, Bhartiya Mahila Bank and Sarpanch, Soda Village, Rajasthan was another panelist who affirmed that growth includes both urban as well as rural. She strongly pointed out that our system is flawed but what are we doing about it? She said that each one of us has the capacity to contribute for the improvement. She stressed that agriculture can play a very important role in the inclusive growth and hence rural development is of great importance.

Mr. Davar summed up the session highlighting transparency, rapid implementation and accountability as the pillars of good governance. He further added that corporate can play a vital role in strengthening the governance through better corporate governance. Session 3: Panel Discussion 2: Industry CEOs from the region on “Reviving Growth in North” and aimed at:

1. Identifying key challenges faced by the North

2. The roadmap for the revival and accelerating growth of the region

3. Leveraging of the key sector

Mr. Malvinder Mohan Singh, Past Chairman, CII Northern Region and Executive Chairman, Fortis Healthcare Ltd. moderated the panel and highlighted that northern region is considered as the cradle of innovation and entrepreneurship.

Mr. Zubin Irani, President, Building and Industrial Systems (India). United Technologies Corporation stated that there is a lot where industries can contribute to the inclusive growth apart from the government through good governance.

Mr. Deepak Kapuria, Chairman, Hi-Tech Group of Companies stated that SMEs contribute a major part to growth of the country. He also iterated that the advantages of the north are connectivity, fundamental education and a very industrious work force. He said that if we started embracing technology vigorously, to make it easy for setting up business in any state, we have to move from production based providers to innovation providers. He emphasized that to create more employers is the need of the day rather than to create more employees.

Mr. Jayant Davar, Co-chairman and Managing Director, Sandhar Technologies Ltd. summed up the session highlighting three important steps towards growth being industry academia engagement, bringing all the stakeholders on one table and keeping the people engaged.