We live in an age when businessmen command considerable influence in society. Ratan Tata, Mukesh Ambani, and Azim Premji are seen not as wealth creators but as nation builders. A good deal of business news today captures the imagination of the average citizen. A public issue, a trade agreement, the rise of a new corporate brand, a start-up, a collaboration is big news today. The guilt complex associated with making money has long since disappeared from the nation’s conscience. India’s stock markets are now in an explosive phase of growth and start-ups are reaping huge funds without any credible record of performance, largely on the trust of retail investors. Corporate India receives a reservoir of trust, goodwill and confidence from the nation and must return it in equal measure. Has India Inc lived up to those expectations? How much does an inclusive India figure in its vision?
Response to job crisis
Corporate India dreams big today. Brand power, digital technology, talent pools, scales of operations, and global connectivity are all part of its agenda. Yet, how much does the magnitude of India’s jobless growth overwhelm the big business? Mahatma Gandhi’s insight that “what we need is not mass production, but production by the masses” must be an enlightened vision of Indian business. Yet, the response of corporate India to the country’s job crisis has been more symbolic than substantial. The reality is that much of India’s blue-collar employment is generated in Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and in its sprawling gig economy. Some 45% of India’s manufacturing takes place in the sweat shops of garments units, hazardous chemical factories and in unsafe engineering workshops. The jobs thus created are sub-optimal with low wages and unstable working conditions. India’s SME sector needs to modernise itself with the help of digital technology, professional management and better scale of operations. This is the ‘new economy’ and India’s corporate sector can extend a helping hand across the aisle to help the SMEs achieve this transformation. That act must not be seen as large-heartedness but market-driven and backed by a strong value proposition.
