Modi Writes Letter to IPMX Appreciating Udyam 2014

Picking up on the ‘ Make In India’ slogan given by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, One Year MBA (International Programme in Management for Executives)) students at Indian Institute Of Management Lucknow, Noida Campus organized annual leadership conclave, Udyam-2014, on 13 December. Modi, sent his best wishes for the conclave and expressed happiness over the initiative taken by IPMX students.

Udyam, is the annual industry academia interaction summit of IIM Lucknow’s Noida campus, which the One Year MBA (IPMX) students call home. The event is IIM Lucknow’s endeavor to provide a platform where eminent personalities from government, corporate world and society exchange thoughts on the topics that are going to shape the future of India Inc. 

This year, Udyam, the annual industry academia interaction summit of IIM Lucknow, saw eminent personalities from government, corporate world and academics brainstorming with students about a possible roadmap that will help achieve the final objective of ‘Make In India’ campaign. 

Appreciating the effort of the students to build a dialogue around the Make in India Theme, Modi sent in his wishes to students in the form of a letter which has been reproduced on the left.

The event began with discussions around investment opportunities in the manufacturing sector.

The panel consisted of Mr Shailendra Singh (Head, Invest India and Joint Secy, DIPP), Mr Manoj Mittal (GM, SIDBI), Suresh Thawani (Ex-MD Tata sponge, Chief Coach and Mentor at Full Circle) and Mr. Anadi Pande (Associate Professor of Strategy, IIM Lucknow).

The panel emphasized that contribution of manufacturing to GDP should be at 50%, which is presently hovering around 15% and suggested that to achieve the desired objective, India should do away with old regulations and the crippling licensing system, bring in transparency and help develop large clusters of major industries.

The importance of manufacturing for import substitution and boosting employment was emphasized. The panel said that Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) must play larger role in the manufacturing sector and for this India must develop a framework and policies making this transition possible. Medium and Small Enterpises should form clusters for RnD initiatives

The second half of the discussion revolved around skill development. Mr. K.M. Nanaiah (MD, Pitney Bowes), Mr. Sanjay Shivnani (Head Vocation, Pearson India), Mr. Jatinder Salwan (Senior VP and Head Talent Acquisition, Societe Generale), Dr. Sapna Poti (Principal, NSDC) and Mr. Manmohan Bhutani, HR expert talked about how various organisations are facing an acute shortage of skilled manpower and what needs to be done to overcome this shortage.

The panel explored how we can benefit from skilled man power not only In India, but also in countries facing aging population and related problems. Today careers too are becoming shorter and the need to skill and re-skill human resources is becoming more and more pronounced. For ‘Make in India’ to wor the workforce should be skilled and industry ready.

By 2022, India needs 500 million skilled workforces and, therefore, the supply side of the workforce needs to be fixed. The panelists pointed out how in the near future, skilled human capital is going to be more important than financial capital.

The need for a social re-engineering with more and more emphasis on skill creation was highlighted during the conclave. The panel also discussed how students of prestigious educational institutes like IIMs and IITs can contribute in making PM Modi’s dream project a success.

The question posed by IIM students made the discussion richer and showed how closely these managers are involved in process of nation building.  In a country full of such young talent, ‘Make in India’ may be a difficult project but definitely not an impossible one.