India Inc and IIM A PGPX to reignite India’s growth story

India, one of the cornerstones of the group of emerging nations known as BRICS (Brazil, Russia, China, India, South Africa) today no longer enjoys the 8% plus growth that made headlines around the world. What’s changed?

For one, ‘policy paralysis’ – a term that has dominated the business pages of newspapers in India in recent times and one that talks of the lull in government policy making over the past few months. As the ruling Congress government fends of charges of corruption, debates on policy in the parliament have given way to debates on 2G spectrum allotment and coal block allocation. As a result, major decisions that would allow industry to set up new projects have been relegated to the back burner.

Major economic indicators such as industry output, job creation & inflation continue to remain weak. While most of us are hoping for Diwali to ring in a change in fortunes for corporate India, MBA students at IIM Ahmedabad are going a step further.

Students at IIM Ahmedabad’s Post Graduate Programme for Executives (PGPX), an MBA level programme that brings together students with an average work experience of ten years, is hoping to find possible solutions to this logjam along with leaders from industry and the government.

The theme of ConneXion 2013, the annual business event organised by the PGPX at IIM A, is ‘India Inc – Ideas to actions’. The objective of the event is for the speakers and students to brainstorm and analyze ways for India and its corporate sector to get back on a higher growth trajectory. Industry leaders and prominent academicians will present their points of view on topics such as navigating business cycles, innovation, establishing India as a global brand and its next growth engines. Through its high-powered speakers, focused panel discussions and insightful student participation, the event intends to provide leadership for the next level of corporate growth and renewal.

Arun Mukherjee, a PGPX student who is part of the team organizing the event says, “to answer these challenging questions facing Indian industry we have brought in 14 CEOs, 2 Chief economists, 2 Industry veterans and a member of the Indian legislature. Together they represent 17 different industries and bring their varying viewpoints to the table over two days of intense interaction and debate.”

The Keynote speakers at the event are Dr KC Chakrabarty, Deputy Governor, Reserve Bank of India and Amit Agrawal, VP & Country Manager, Amazon India. The panel speakers include a cross section of government and industry veterans such as Anil Chaudhry, MD & Country President, Schneider Electric, Dr. Devendra Pant, Chief Economist, FITCH India Ratings, Sanjay Purohit, Member, Executive Council and SVP & Global Head Products, Platforms and Solutions Infosys Ltd., Rajesh Sud, CEO & MD, Max life insurance, Dr. Nilanjan Ghosh, Chief Economist, MCX Exchange & Suresh Prabhu, Former Union Minister, Govt. of India, Chairman – Council on Energy, Environment and Water.

Some topics scheduled for discussion at the summit include, Bridging the divide: Subsidy to Sustainability, Redefining Made In India: Low Cost to High Value & Building India’s leadership pipeline.

The event also has a ‘war game’ component called XBiz – a simulation where burning issues will be debated by teams comprising of students from IIM and other reputed institutions, representing specific stakeholder view-points. The teams will be mentored by experts from academia, governmental bodies and the industry. The debate at the 2013 edition of the event will center around ‘Socio-economic Impact of the Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Bill’ 

Commenting on the event, Anurag K. Agarwal, Chair, PGPX said, “Our endeavor is to bring together thought leaders who have transformed their thoughts into actions to share and debate current issues with the PGPX participants who themselves are full of ideas. Some of these ideas may have to do with improving manufacturing techniques, or corporate governance, or social welfare. They may even be ideas that do not find an easy label as their time might not have come. The event hopes to crystallize these ideas into action points that can provide impetus to India’s growth trajectory”

The event is scheduled to be held at the IIM Ahmedabad campus from October 24-26, 2013.