FICCI FLO as part of its endeavour to achieve an inclusive economic recovery trajectory and enable professional excellence for women, started with the first roundtable in a series on ‘Decoding India’s Economic Challenge’, the result of which will be a comprehensive document of recommendations to the government.
Leaders from different industries came together to address and share insights on the way forward to India’s road to economic recovery. These included Ms. Preetha Reddy, Executive Vice Chairperson, Apollo Hospital Group; Mr. Sanjeev Sanyal, Principal Economic Advisor, Government of India; Mr Kaushik Shaparia, CEO, Deutsche Bank India; Mr. Naveen Munjal, MD, Hero Electric Vehicles Pvt. Ltd.; Ms. Charu Malhotra, MD, Primus Partners, Latha Venkatesh, Sr. Business Journalist and Ms. Ujjwala Singhania, Director, JK International & National President of FICCI FLO come together to discuss the issues, possible interventions and inputs required, and present the meeting outcomes to the government as recommendations.
In the last 15 months, both people and the economy have been severely challenged due to COVID-19, which has slowed economic activity significantly. Many Indian businesses are facing multi-level challenges that have sent them into de-growth mode. Though the government has stepped-in, recovery remains slow and uncertain, leaving India Inc. feeling the need for larger support and timely action. The discussion touched upon this, while also highlighting priority actions for both industry and government, required policy interventions to get the economy back on track and future prospects of the same.
Addressing the webinar, Ms. Ujjwala Singhania said, “2020 was a difficult year for us, with people, businesses, and economy bearing the brunt of it all. My hope is to see women-led businesses flourish through structured interventions. All policy frameworks need to incorporate measures to mitigate financial constraints, by clearing MSME dues and incentives. There’s a need to adopt a more proactive, flexible and women-friendly role by SIDBI, also to break in a new policy of social security for MSME employees and migrant labourers. Finally, we need an amendment of IB court for women’s businesses.
Our deliberation today has helped us put together many concrete suggestions on steps that the Government can take and how India Inc. can augment these efforts. We plan to submit these key takeaways to the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and to the Ministry of MSME.”
Speaking on the government’s plans, Mr. Sanjeev Sanyal stated “Responding quickly to the third wave and making sure that the vaccination keeps happening at the current rate is key. Implementing the budget February 2021 comes next. We need to also monitor the economic scenario of the country with real time data.”
Ms. Preetha Reddy said “The second wave saw rural India facing an increased impact, much more than the first wave. We need to reinvest in the healthcare industry and the services industry at large for it to recoup, as we realized that the infrastructure was completely inadequate during the second wave. 49% of the GDP comes from the services industry, and hence it deserves support from the government to get the economy moving.”
Talking about the shifting consumption patterns in India, Mr. Naveen Munjal said “Growth in the automotive sector is not going to be the same as before, but, there’s certainly going to be pent up demand which will bounce back up. This will help drive a gradual shift towards green mobility, electric vehicles, etc. which the government is also pushing for.”
Talking about the RBI policies on interest rates, Mr. Kaushik Shaparia abides by Winston Churchill’s thought to ‘never let a good crisis go to waste’. He mentioned that we need to look at policy level changes, quickly. “It’s more a question of timing rather than direction. The government and RBI have come to an understanding on prioritising which problems need to be solved immediately and which others require long term solutions that we need to align ourselves with,” he said.
“Even pre-COVID, 80% women were precluded from labour force participation. If we’re looking at reviving the economy, bringing these women back to the labour force could do the trick. India would be 27% richer. That’s the kind of opportunity cost we’re looking at. Currently, majority of women-focused education doesn’t prepare them for high-paying jobs or the formal sector. We need to rectify this in the long term,” said Ms. Charu Malhotra when asked about long term scarring in the education and employment sector.
About FICCI FLO
FLO was established in 1983, as a division of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) which is the apex body of industry and commerce in India. It is the women’s wing of the FICCI. With over 37 years of experience, it has been promoting entrepreneurship and professional excellence among women through workshops, seminars, conferences, training and capacity building programmes, etc. and now represents over 8000 women entrepreneurs and professionals. An all India forum for women, FLO has its headquarters in New Delhi, with 18 chapters covering different geographical regions of India. The objective of the organization is to encourage and facilitate women to showcase their talents, skills, experiences and energies across sectors and verticals of the economy, for a truly inclusive economic growth trajectory.
