6 groups, 16 ministers! How India Inc will help PM Narendra Modi build his template for country

NEW DELHI: After lending an ear to startups and upcoming entrepreneurs, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet more experienced hands from the industry on Monday for their policy inputs to build a “New India”.

The list includes Rajiv Bajaj of Bajaj Auto, Nikhil Nanda of Escorts, Avni Biyani of Future Retail, Sangeeta Reddy of Apollo Hospitals, Bunty Bohra of Goldman Sachs, Sanjay Nayar of KKR, Priya Nair of Hindustan Unilever and Sanjeev Bikhchandani of Naukri.com. The industry leaders will make presentations to the Prime Minister on policy initiatives for doubling farmer incomes, creating cities of tomorrow, taking forward Make in India, reforming financial sector and building world-class infrastructure under the aegis of ‘Champions of Change’ initiative of government think tank Niti Aayog.

“There is a thinking that this process should be institutionalised,” a top government official told ET.

The industry leaders have been divided into six groups and tasked with formulating strategies on these topics. These groups may be attached to the ministries concerned as part of the instutionalisation process to ensure that they act as guiding lights to crucial issues.

Sixteen cabinet ministers and secretaries of various ministries and departments will also be present at the presentations.

The Prime Minister last week met 212 startup founders and young entrepreneurs.

After Monday’s meeting, the PM would have interacted with 425 CEOs in a week’s time seeking policy inputs.

The last group of CEOs worked on six themes — New India 2022, Digital India, Emerging a Sustainable Tomorrow, Health and Nutrition, Education and Skill Development, and Soft Power and gave their suggestions to the Prime Minister and other senior ministers.

The subject common to both groups is New India-2022, something that the PM is keen to get policy inputs on.

Niti Aayog has been working closely with the groups to document their suggestions and will also look at how these are carried forward.

The initiative aims at bringing fresh, innovative and practical thinking in the policy-making space.