Bullish on India: An optimistic progress report on economy and achievements of the government

Amitabh Kant’s Made in India comes close on the publication of Ashok Lahiri’s book India in Search of Glory. Both have a bio-data linked to the government, with Kant working for the establishment, while Lahiri is part of the government. Both the books start with a historical context and bring us up to date with the situation in the economy. Kant’s book is more focused on how business has excelled since 2014 due to the proactive policies of the government. This was also the time when the author, who is presently sherpa for the G-20 summit, had headed NITI Aayog. Lahiri’s exposition was more of a deep dive academic and unbiased analysis of all economic policies to date.

Formulating and driving the agenda of the government over the past decade or so, Kant is very optimistic that India is not just a major economic power, but has the potential to become a superpower where all global supply chains get linked with our potential. This rhymes with the title of the book, Made in India. It is a takeoff from the ‘Make in India’ campaign, which he was instrumental in formulating, right from the content to the design. Working closely with the government gives him not just direct access to the persons who take decisions but also allows him to see the bigger picture.

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Two areas where he sees a lot of potential in driving future growth paradigms in the country are technology led by artificial intelligence and machine learning. Interestingly, he points to how we can leapfrog in case we are able to not just generate a lot of data, but also put it to use. This can transcend the traditional frontiers of banking where loans are given based on all data that is available on the entity/person to also building health records and soil information that will cut down on information asymmetry and lower costs while increasing efficiency. And given our skillsets in technology, this can be expanded as service exports to other countries too. This will carry this paradigm of Make in India to other countries too.

As the book is about 75 years of business and enterprise, Kant starts off with the pre-colonial era and takes us through the different phases the country has gone through. The book is more of a breeze through these times as the focus is more on the current state of the economy. The colonial raj got replaced by the licence raj, which did serve some purpose but had more faults and hence was not sustainable. This was not the best time for enterprise as it was more a case of maneouvering through the corridors to get permissions to do business. It was nothing like what we see today where there is considerable ease in doing business.

Reforms that were implemented in the 1990s were a good break, though not adequate; and as is usually the case, got diluted along the way. This led to stagnation that was amplified post the financial crisis. There was definitely need for a big push where a second series of reforms had to be undertaken. But this was not possible because of the policy paralysis, which ensued due to various controversies that best the sale of natural resources.

Here, the author is quite critical of the entire NPA issue which surfaced in the decade that had sort of brought the economy to a halt. A big push with new vigour and vision was required that was provided by the incumbent government. In particular, the author is all praise for the Prime Minister, who is responsible for this transformation. This, according to him, was the turning point. He touches on various schemes that have been effected on both the economic and social fronts. But his vote goes for the technology-led schemes, like say the JAM trinity which could reach the grassroots.

This book is a good quick summary of everything that has happened post 2014. He also gives some of his personal experiences while working in the government and takes quite a lot of pride in his effort to further tourism in Kerala and the term of ‘God’s own country’ emanated at this time. His initial skepticism on joining NITI Aayog was turned around as he does find this a very fulfilling stint where he feels he made a difference.

Kant looks at two areas in some detail where one could have a different view. He does believe that the potential we have shown in the area of creating startups is immense and this would be the way forward. Readers may have a different view given that the final performance has not always been positive for most of them. The second is on the issue of gig workers. He believes that this will be the way forward in the future, where there may be no firm employment like fixed jobs as people work when they want to and for who they want to. He pitches for gig workers not just in the blue collared (plumbers, carpenters, parlour services, etc) space, but also for white collared jobs as in programming or data analyses where one can work for several clients.

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Now that India is on the global stage with the G-20 presidency being the latest, where we have the power to influence other nations, the author bats a lot for furthering talks and actions on climate change. This, of course, is a burning topic today and his views are quite insightful.

Made in India is definitely a book that spews optimism and is something which will appeal to the reader. It does enumerate the several achievements as well as work in progress of the government and hence is a one-stop shop for all such knowledge. The author could have highlighted the dark spots in this story, though one could say the narrative is more about business than social issues.

Made in India: 75 Years of Business and Enterprise

Amitabh Kant

Rupa Publications

Pp 240, Rs 595

Madan Sabnavis is chief economist, Bank of Baroda