The High Commissioner of India visited Cardiff today and addressed a packed audience at the Cardiff Business Club. H.E. Mr. Nalin Surie stated “India is playing a progressively larger role in the global economy. But, we are not in competition with any other economy. We are not mercantilist in our approach. Our basic growth paradigm remains anchored in domestic demand and meeting the growing social welfare needs of our population. He added “We seek access to technology, cooperation in R&D, development of urban centres, up gradation and expansion of our educational sector and increase in productivity in agriculture and food processing. “
The High Commissioner joined Indian Foreign Service in July 1973 and has served in Indian Missions in Hong Kong, Brussels, Dar-es-Salaam, Thimphu, New York (Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN), Warsaw (Ambassador) and Beijing (Ambassador) at Cardiff University (far right).
“The National Skill Development Corporation in India is mandated to train a skilled workforce of 150 million by 2022 through skill development to graduation."
The High Commissioner also stated, “The UK used to be our largest trade partner in the EU. It no longer is. Indeed, the UK’s share in India’s overall trade has declined. At a time when our needs are clear and your capabilities are complementary, it is time to leverage our traditional links and restore the primacy of the India-UK trade and economic partnership in Europe.”
The process of economic reform in India has been an ongoing one since 1991.
“Given our democratic system, our domestic economic and social structure and the fact that the bulk of the Indian economy has since before independence and after, been rooted in the market. Our policy responses are designed to facilitate and nurture high growth and greater productivity while maintaining principles of equity and social justice. “
In 1947 India’s founding fathers gave India a vision of building a nation that is liberal, plural, secular, democratic and multi-cultural in its outlook, with a society founded on the principles of social justice and equity, with an economy that was self-sufficient, vibrant, and modern and open to the world.
"In 1991, as part of our ongoing quest for this vision, India undertook comprehensive reforms of the economy aimed at accelerating the pace and quantum of investments in India. "
Policy measures have since been taken to raise the standard of living of the people by stepping up investment activity in the country and generating employment opportunities. Today, India is one of the fastest growing economies of the world. It offers huge investment potential in diverse sectors like infrastructure, retail, real estate, automobiles, food processing, information technology, knowledge process outsourcing, business process outsourcing, healthcare and telecom among many others. India’s economic policies have acceptance across its political spectrum. India is, undoubtedly, among the most attractive destinations globally for doing business.
In the infrastructure sector alone India investment requirements are expected to exceed US$ 550 billion over the next five years. This is sought to be realised through a combination of public investment, public-private partnerships and private investment. The British experience of public-private partnership and public sector capacity building would be especially useful to India.
India has a confident approach and the clear message from the UK High Commissioner is that the future is to be grasped. This is based on almost three decades of close to 6% growth in real terms per annum. This growth rate was over 9% in recent times and even at the height of the global financial crisis remained at around 6.7% in 2008-09. India hopes to sustain a 6 to 7% growth rate. The UK and euro zone countries would settle for much less than that.