Kumar Mangalam Birla, leading industrialist and chairman of Aditya Birla Group, in an annual note said that India’s rise is being welcomed by the world as it grows into a stabilising and non-disruptive growth engine.
“Think of a country that combines economic might, a large working age population, demographic dynamism, entrepreneurial energy, robust democracy and diversity. Add to this a pivotal position in current global geopolitics. That country is India,” Birla said in a note titled 2022-23: My reflections.
Elaborating on global corporations’ focus on China + 1 strategy as they look at countries across Asia, he said that India has become a clear choice of investment.
“A decadal reshaping of supply chains is underway. As global corporations start to look at countries across Asia as part of their China + 1 strategies, India is a clear choice. Supply chain repositioning is complex and needs us to stay the course. However, the path we are charting is bold and certain to yield good outcomes. India already has the largest working age population globally. The lessons learnt from the transformations of other economies through the last few decades point to the importance of this demographic dividend,” Birla said.
“As India further opens up to trade and investment, forms new alliances and reaffirms old ones in the changing world order, it will have a unique place in the global economy. It is now up to us, its people, its companies, and its leaders to harness these opportunities in India’s favour,” he added.
Pointing out at aggressive adoption of green energy and sustainability, Birla said that climate and sustainability have rightfully been called out as the defining challenges of the 21st century.
“Governments and large corporations globally finally see a confluence between what is virtuous and financially prudent. And this convergence will drive a multi-decade transition,” the top industrialist opined.
“India has made some bold bets and commitments behind this transition. As a nation, we aim to generate 50% of our power requirements from renewable sources, or put another way, have 500GW of non-fossil fuel based capacity by 2030. India is walking the talk as is evident from its pioneering leadership of the International Solar Alliance,” he added.
The Aditya Birla Group chairman added that at the corporate level it is heartening to see similar whole-hearted commitments being made across the business spectrum.
“We are making similar investments in green energy, the circular economy and sustainable materials, across a range of our group companies. The pendulum of climate change will swing globally when we can find technology led solutions to marry the material aspirations of current generations with responsibility towards the lives of future generations. And nowhere is that truer than in rapidly emerging countries like India,” Birla said.
Source: PTI
