CII Communique - February, 2010

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spotlight Davos and hosted by Mr Vikram Chandra, highlighted the challenges of building infrastructure, eradicating poverty and progressing on inclusive growth. The participants, including Mr Anand Sharma, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, felt that India is capable of meeting global expectations and that the world expects more from this large and rapidly-growing country than it expects from the world. Some of the issues on which leadership is expected from India include the global trade negotiations, energy, climate change and innovation. A survey showed that Indians stress a seat on the UN Security Council as their major expectation from the world. Addressing a session on ‘Rethinking Energy Security’, Minister Sharma outlined India’s National Action Plan on climate change. He stated that the world needs to work together to develop and disseminate technologies so that the aspirations of billions of people in the developing world can be met effectively, citing India’s nuclear energy initiative as a milestone. At a special session on India’s future agenda, the panelists laid stress on investments in physical and social capital. Both agriculture and manufacturing were highlighted, the need for a sustainable Green Revolution and creation of additional jobs taking precedence. The participants suggested that reforms must percolate down to the state level in order to gain traction. At the same time, India should continue on its globalization path, especially in Asia. Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia participated in the breakfast session hosted by the Boston Consulting Group on Asia’s role in the global economy. The recovery in the world economy was primarily driven by consumer demand, he stated, adding that Asia will soon become a significant contributor to the world GDP. By 2020 Asia’s consumption will be USD 21 trillion from the current USD 7 trillion. In comparison, the US market which consumes USD 10 trillion now will add another 5 trillion by 2020. Dr Ahluwalia felt that Asia needs to take leadership in directing the global economy. Addressing another breakfast session, on Innovation, Dr Ahluwalia advised the audience of India’s commitment to putting in place a strong system of IP protections and compliances and of the enormous opportunities in pharma sector in India. From Top Azman Mokhtar, MD, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, Malaysia; George Yeo Yong-Boon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Singapore, and Kamal Nath, Minister for Road Transport & Highways, India Kishore Mahbubani, Dean, Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, Singapore, Hans-Paul Buerkner, Global CEO & President, The Boston Consulting Group, Germany; and Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of India Rahul Bajaj, Chairman, Bajaj Auto,Prakash P Hinduja, Chairman, Europe, Hinduja Group of Companies, Switzerland, Timothy Beardson, Chairman, Crosby Holdings Ltd, Hong Kong SAR, and Robert L Forbes, President, ForbesLife, USA, at the Bajaj Auto Nightcap Communiqué February 2010 | 23
sectoral synergies agriculture Towards 4% Growth in Agriculture Although India's remarkable economic growth in recent years has been fueled by the booming services and industrial sector, Agriculture continues to remain the mainstay of the economy from the employment and livelihood perspective. The contribution of Agriculture to the Indian GDP has gone down considerably in the last few years, but it continues to be the largest sector in the country, employing 58% of the population. One of the key concerns facing both policymakers as well as industry is the stagnation in Indian Agriculture. While the sector had registered an average compound growth rate of 3.5% in the Green Revolution years, it declined to around 2 % in the late 1990s and has almost stagnated thereafter. As per the National Agricultural Policy declaration, a 4 per cent rate of growth in agriculture is a necessary concomitant of 10% per cent GDP growth. A large part of the debate on Indian agriculture is related to food security concerns. There has been marginal growth in the total area under cultivation in the food grains sector and overall food grains production is stagnating at around 200 million tonnes, leading to short run demand-supply imbalances in food grains availability, inflation and corresponding distorting pressures on policy. The continuing rise in the prices of major food commodities such as grains, pulses and oilseeds, is a cause for concern. Food prices are also a result of the demand-supply imbalance. A slowdown in the growth of production and more rapid growth in demand in India has contributed to constrained supply of grains and oilseeds over the last decade. There is no greater challenge facing us than the challenge of providing every person with sufficient food to meet his / her requirement without any adverse impact on the ecological system and mankind, now and in the future. To ensure that food security and agriculture grows at a sustained 4% growth rate, Confederation of Indian Industry suggests the following areas of interventions: Seeds Seed has an important role to play in improving the agriculture productivity of our country. It was high yielding varieties seeds that laid the foundation for the Green Revolution in 1967. Hence, to pave the way for a second Green Revolution in Agriculture, seeds again need the attention of the Government. In the last couple of decades, the private sector has played a key role in developing hybrid seeds in key crops like corn, cotton, and vegetables, as a result of which there have been substantial gains in production. India has become the world’s second largest producer of vegetables with the production level of 84 million tonnes; cotton production in India has touched 290 lakh bales during 2009, a surge by 5% as compared to the previous financial year. Appropriate policy support has potential to bring innovative technologies in self-pollinated crops like wheat, pulses and oilseeds to improve the productivity and much-needed food availability. For this, Government needs to take proactive policy measures. These are: • Regulatory system and support for conducting seed and biotech research required, with clarity around the process for all stakeholders. • The pending National Seed Bill 2004 should be passed on high priority. To address issues like making the registration of cultivars obligatory, creating a National Register of Seeds, regulating the import and export of 24 | February 2010 Communiqué
Page 2 and 3: Volume 19 No. 2 February 2010 18 22
Page 4 and 5: Congratulations Padma Awardees Padm
Page 6 and 7: cover story Reign in Fiscal Deficit
Page 8 and 9: cover story technologies, which hav
Page 10 and 11: cover story reduce the fiscal defic
Page 12 and 13: india & the world spotlight The Par
Page 14 and 15: spotlight G K Vasan, Minister of Sh
Page 18 and 19: agriculture seeds, accommodating ne
Page 20 and 21: agriculture & food processing indus
Page 22 and 23: defence CII-KPMG Report Opportuniti
Page 24 and 25: energy sectoral synergies CII Deleg
Page 26 and 27: sectoral synergies infrastructure T
Page 28 and 29: etail sectoral synergies The Nation
Page 30 and 31: towards excellence competitiveness
Page 32 and 33: quality towards excellence CII Char
Page 34 and 35: msmes manufacturing services Report
Page 36 and 37: msmes 1. Government should set up a
Page 38 and 39: CII Pavilion at Tripura Fair L.K.Gu
Page 40 and 41: Africa South Africa The CII - India
Page 42 and 43: eport Bank of Japan holds Interest
Page 44 and 45: eport Dato’ Seri Mohd Najib Tun A
Page 46 and 47: eport Europe Germany Economy An une
Page 48 and 49: eport Co-moderating the session, Mr
Page 50 and 51: eport government has again conveyed
Page 52 and 53: egions for developing next practice
Page 54 and 55: egions Himalaya Drug Company. More
Page 56 and 57: egions project, free guides were gi

CII Communique - February, 2010

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