CII had invited Dr. C. K. Prahalad (number one among the most influential thinkers in management alive today) to come up with a vision for India at 75. Through a live video conference today, Dr. Prahalad shared his vision for India with CII delegates and the media at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai and Pune.

Due to the restraints we have here on Sulekha, I will be posting the speech in four consecutive blogs.

I am aware that this is quite different from the usual “bittersweet” blogs. The speech revealed a lot of truth we are already aware of, but reading it, seeing it put down in black and white does make a difference, doesn’t it?

For instance he quoted a mind-boggling figure of twenty trillion dollars – the amount we lose due to one single factor – corruption. He was of the opinion that corruption today has seeped into the system – so much so that it cannot be isolated and dealt with. What he suggested is to treat corruption as treason – a crime against the nation. For today, it has emerged as the biggest setback to India emerging as a global superpower.

In Chennai, for instance, the slum dwellers who had met Dr. Prahalad opined that more than the lack of resources, they were concerned about corruption. In fact, over 170 districts today, there is no rule of law. And instead of progress, there has been a slow and steady regression.

But in-spite of all the setbacks, he said that we have immense potential. To create the world’s largest pool of trained manpower ie 200 million college graduates and 500 million skilled workers. Besides thirty of the top Fortune 100 companies.

He said that we could garner 10% of the world trade and be the source of global innovation. He cited the examples of small Bangalore based IT companies that earn revenues totally from outside the country and operate like true Multinational companies.

He had something very interesting to say about intellectual vitality. He wanted TEN Nobel prize winners to emerge from India by 2025. In the 1920’s India had Rabindranath Tagore, Bharathi, C.V Raman and many others whose intellectual contributions enriched the world.

And that was when the population of India was less than 200 million. What about now?

The session was extremely insightful, and that’s an understatement. You’ll see why!

I am attaching the excerpts of his speech below. The rest in my next blog.

“The Potential of India@75:    

1. India turns its population into a distinct advantage. India has the potential to build a base of 200 million college graduates – a portfolio of educated people in every discipline.  This is just 16% of India’s population.  Further, I would like to see 500 million certified and skilled technicians. Implicit in this future is universal literacy. This is possible in fifteen years, if leaders focus on this goal as a priority[i].  Think about what this means. India will have the largest pool of technically trained manpower anywhere in the world. This must be the starting point for global leadership.   If India fails in its educational mission, the rest of my vision for India cannot be realized.
2.  India must become the home for at least 30 of the Fortune 100 firms.  I know this is an audacious goal but it is possible.
3. India accounts for 10% of global trade. India can.  We have to change our mindset.  In fact Indians took a lot of pride when India was not affected by the 1997 Asian crisis.  I said, at that time, that it is a sad commentary because if India was connected with the rest of the world, she would have felt the impact of the crisis. India must become connected with the rest of the world- a critical step in influencing others and more importantly, the basis for learning from others. 
4. India becomes a source of global innovations - new businesses, new technologies and new business models. The early evidence is already in.  Increasingly India is becoming home for new business models - very low capital intensity, extremely low fixed costs, and conversion of fixed costs into variable costs (as in the case of Airtel).   The bottom of the pyramid, the 800 million Indians, can become a major source of breakthrough innovations[ii].
5. India needs to focus on the flowering of arts, science, and literature.  Why can’t India have ten Nobel prize winners?  I want to add that it would be all the better if it was for the work done in India - not just Indians getting the Nobel Prize for the work done elsewhere. 
6. India becomes the world’s benchmark on how to cope with diversity. It becomes a benchmark for the practice of universality and inclusiveness. India has the opportunity as she is home to all the major religions, 15 major languages and hundreds of dialects, and a complex range of cultures, food habits and rituals – all the diversity one can hope for.  If India is not the laboratory to practice diversity and inclusiveness nobody else is. India is the laboratory to the world. 

One could add to the list.  The six big opportunities that I have identified, when accomplished would change the influence of India around the world.  India has the potential.  If this potential intrigues you, then we can move on to the next interesting question: How do we get there? What are the principles we have to start with?”