It's all about votes, jobs & politics, says Tarun Das

KOLKATA: If current business enviroment is tough, the future can be expected to only get tougher, warns Tarun Das, director general, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII).
Speaking on Building Competitiveness with Confidence at the Indian Chamber of Commerce, here today, Das said there are no quick fix solutions in sight for the gamut of problems facing Indian industry.
“It’s not a one day cricket match but an arduous marathon,� he said. These are tough times around the world and not just for India and there was a halting approach to globalization, Mr Das said.
Most developed countries, including the US, are taking protectionist action like farm subsidies and tariffs on steel because of political reasons and it’s all about votes, jobs and politics.
Outlining the challenges in the business environment he said, industry needs to be prepared to face more competition, increased price pressure, a larger volumes of imports, slow depreciation of the exchange rate and a lesser number of joint venture companies.
However, it would become increasingly difficult to import technology in the coming days with foreign companies hesitant to transfer technology at affordable prices. Indian industrialists thus need to seriously invest in R&D to develop indigenous technology. Das insisted industry should look beyond providing remote services and grab a slice of the $9-10 billion worth of outsourcing opportunities in the manufacturing sector for components and parts that could be coming India’s way.
In this context, he cited the example of Chennai-based Sundaram Fastners which has, for five straight years, been selected as General Motors’ vendor of the year out of its 30,000 vendors. The GDP growth rate is set to double in the next 15 years, riding on growth of emerging sectors like media and entertainment and software.