www.businessworld.in SUBSCRIBER’S COPY NOT FOR RESALE I RNI NO. 39847/81 I 12-25 JANUARY 2022
YEAR AHEAD 2022
NEW BALANCE
A new business world order is emerging: work-
from-home to tech-enabled hybrid environments,
recovery amid recession to socialising in tech times.
This new paradigm is all about balance
Rs 150
EDITOR-IN-CHIEF’S NOTE
MILESTONES GALORE
ANNURAG BATRA FOR INDIA, the year 2022 has a special historical significance. This
year India celebrates its 75th year of Independence. It is a celebration
[email protected] though, marred by rising cases of the Omicron variant of the coronavirus,
which casts a shadow over the overall recovery of the economy. We
must join hands to cheer our resilience in tackling the impact of the
pandemic. After all, India has successfully carried out the world’s
largest vaccination drive and facilitated combatting the virus in several
countries by shipping massive doses of vaccines to them.
We all know that India is currently one of the fastest-growing
economies in the world. We also believe that the country is perfectly
poised to be the future global epicentre for manufacturing, engineering,
tourism and services. The government has realised that the existing
infrastructure can come in the way of achieving the country’s ambition to
become a leading global economic superpower. To effectively tackle this
challenge, the government has pledged to invest around a trillion dollars
for a robust development of infrastructure. With every passing week, new
projects are being inaugurated or commissioned. Operationalisation of
mega-projects like the Delhi-Mumbai expressway and portions of the
dedicated freight corridors for the railway may happen in 2022.
In 2021, almost every sector of the economy and every industry
adapted to the challenges posed by the pandemic. The rapid adoption of
technology dominated virtually every business activity. The adoption
or application of technology has not only increased the efficiency of
industries but also day-to-day activities of humans. This trend is expected
to accelerate further in 2022. This year, omnichannel sales and novel
ways of interacting with customers through hyper-personalisation and
more intimate digital sales will further enhance customer engagement.
Customer preference for more convenient interfaces through digital
channels will continue to be an increasing trend in 2022.
It won’t be incorrect to say that Covid has provided a welcome
acceleration to the creator’s economy, e-commerce, modern-day retail,
logistics, Fintech players, Agritech companies, online education and
social commerce, amongst a whole host of other sectors. Each of these
sectors is expected to thrive in 2022.
This special issue brings together a collection of thoughts,
expectations and predictions made by leading business leaders and
heads of companies on how they see 2022 in the perspective of their
respective businesses.
All in all, 2022 will be a year of opportunities, evolution, and growth
for one and all. Here’s wishing our readers a very happy and prosperous
2022.
Happy reading!
3 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
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ITNDOIAP’BSwww.businessworld.inSUBSCRIBER’S COPY NOT FOR RESALE I RNI NO. 39847/81 I 29 DECEMBER 2021 - 11 JANUARY 2022MAILBOX
SCHOOLS YOUR COMMENTS
The Most Definitive Ranking of REBOOTING THE CURRICULUM
the best business management
institutions in the country This refers to the editorial (“ Democratising
Education Beyond Boundaries”, BW, January
INSIDE: Rs 150 11). The article elucidates on how B-schools are
investing consistently to update their curriculum
Best for meeting the talent demand of the ever-evolving
Workplaces™ business needs in the market. Developing the
ability to harness the power of digital innovation
in IT & IT-BPM and a flexible teaching process is imperative to
staying relevant. Certain skills and areas have
INDIA emerged as key business differentiators. These
2021 include sustainability and ESG (environment,
social, governance), ethics, innovation and
TALKBACK BLIPP entrepreneurship, even connected mobility.
THIS PAGE The author rightly points out that cognitive &
Submissions to BW |Businessworld TO GIVE US behavioural skill-building has become imperative
should include the writer’s name and YOUR FEEDBACK in the new normal, across industries. Today,
address and be sent by email to the INSTANTLY institutions must nurture learnability & focus on
editor at [email protected] soft skills by developing the capability needed to
or by mail to 74-75, Scindia House, navigate the businesses even in turbulent times.
Connaught Place, New Delhi-110001
ANISH PATEL, EMAIL
ONLINE RECRUITMENT
This refers to the editorial (“Placement Process
In Hybrid Reality ”, BW, January 11). The author
reflects on the steep growth in online recruitment
tools like assessment tests, psychometric tests,
assessment games/quizzes and even simulations.
He points out that the screening process for the
first cut pruning of the aspirant is more dependent
on these tests rather than the cut-off scores or the
name of the institute that they come from. A lot
of emphasis is on the skill sets, thinking abilities,
creativity, and solution approach over past records
of academia. The only thing that will now matter
is the quality of the students & how well they have
learned through their curriculum & experience.
SHREY DWIVEDI, EMAIL
5 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
CONTENTS
VOLUME 41, ISSUE 6 12-25 JANUARY 2022
8 Jottings 30 Mohit Nirula, Columbia, 22
Pacific Communities
Future fantastic for agritech firms; 32 Sougat Chatterjee, Apollo What To Expect
Curtain call for Othelo; Strong as Preventive Health In 2022
steel; Covid and the politician, and
more ECONOMY Disruptive innovations
such as hybrid learning,
10 Columns 34 Overview work from anywhere,
36 Indranil Pan, Yes Bank everything-tech as well as
Noor Fathima Warsia (p. 10); 38 Sandip Chettri, Tradeindia recovery amid recession
Vikas Singh (p. 12); Ashutosh Garg 40 Sanjeev Kumar, Spice Money are some of the trends
(p. 14); Nitish Mukherjee (p. 16); 42 Soumya Kanti Ghosh, SBI that will dominate as new
Kaushik Prasad (p. 18); Minhaz 44 Rahul Sharma, Vedanta balances emerge
Merchant (p. 20) 46 Kishore Jayaraman, Rolls-
Royce India Cover design by DINESH S. BANDUNI
HEALTHCARE 47 Sunil H. Talati, SEPC
24 Abhay Soi, Max Healthcare
26 Anand K, SRL
Diagnostics
28 Naresh Trehan, Medanta
6 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
INFRASTRUCTURE AUTO MARKETING
48 Overview 72 Overview 88 Overview
50 Amit Gossain, KONE Elevators 74 Ashok Minda, Spark Minda 90 Vishal Agarwal, Avaya
52 Manish Mehan, TK Elevator 76 Vinay Sanghi, CarTrade Tech 92 Tapan Singhel, Bajaj Allianz
India 78 Sharad Malhotra, Nippon Paint 94 Rajesh Vohra, Artsana India
54 Sandeep Gulati, Egis India India 96 Naveen Munjal, Hero
56 Ashish R Puravankara, Electric Vehicles
Puravankara TECHNOLOGY 98 Bobby Pawar, Havas Group
58 Niranjan Hiranandani,
Hiranandani Group 80 Overview M&E
82 Avinash Shekhar, ZebPay
ENERGY 84 Pulkit Agarwal, Trell 100 Overview
86 Vasuta Agarwal, InMobi 102 Pramod Arora, PVR
60 Overview 104 Archana Anand, ZEE5
62 Sameer Gupta, Jakson Group
64 Raman Bhatia, Servotech HUMAN RESOURCE
Power
66 Suranjit Mishra, Tata 108 Overview
Power-DDL 110 Harshvendra Soin, Tech
68 Dushyant Reddy, QuEST Mahindra
Global 116 Rajesh Sahay, Wipro
70 Sanjeev Aggarwal, Amplus
Solar STARTUPS
120 Overview
122 Kamlesh Rao, AB Sun Life
124 Rahul Sarin, Skootr FinSave
126 Mayank Bathwal, Aditya
Birla Health Insurance
127 Eunice Tan, S&P Global
Ratings
129
Last Word
Celebrity chef and
Padma Shri recipient
Sanjeev Kapoor lists
out eating trends for
2022 including
sustainable, healthy,
and fusion foods
TOTAL NO. OF PAGES
INCLUDING COVER 132
ThepagesinBW BusinessworldthatarelabelledBWiorPromotionscontainsponsoredcontent.Theyareentirelygeneratedbyanadvertiserorthe
marketingdepartmentofBW Businessworld.Also,theinsertsbeingdistributedalongwithsomecopiesofthemagazineareadvertorials/advertisements.
Thesepagesshouldnotbeconfusedwith BW Businessworld’seditorialcontent.
Photograph by Indiapicturebudget 7 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
JOTTINGS
FUTURE B Y 2050, THE GLOBAL POPULATION is predicted to
FANTASTIC reach 10 billion, which makes it imperative to find
FOR AGRITECH disruptive solutions to fulfil the future requirements
FIRMS of food, feed, fuel and factory. This fortunately for
the world, does not seem an impossible task any more, thanks
to the massive innovations being adopted worldwide in farming
and new-age technologies. The AgriTech sector has grown by
leaps and bounds over the past 48 months. Today India has
more than 700 AgriTech startups that are providing customised
solutions such as the use of mobile app-based crop advisory,
crop and livestock sensors, rental services in
farm machinery, drones, Agri-FinTech etc.
Global investment in AgriTech startups
stood at $91.55 billion till Q1 2021, and the
last two years accounted for 51 per cent of
the investments, says a just-released Ficci-
PwC report. Interestingly, every ninth Agri
startup in the world is from India, and over
25 Indian AgriTech companies have a global
presence.
The report adds that the current
addressable market opportunity for
AgriTech players is of $24 billion whereas
the current market size of AgriTech startups
is valued at $204 million, which is just one
per cent. Hence, the future potential for
AgriTech startups is immense. Indeed, the
future growth of agriculture is tech-enabled.
—Ashish Sinha
ON 7 JANUARY it was curtain call for theatre personality devised social marketing programmes such as inoculation
Gerson da Cunha, best remembered for his role in the
Shakespearean play Othelo. Yet as fond remembrances for children in Brazil’s informal settlements and healthy
poured in, it was so evident that da Cunha had left his
footprints not just in motherhood in Central America. In 2018, he was honoured
the world of theatre,
but media, advertising by the Government of Brazil with the Order of Rio Branco
and public life at large.
The revered theatre for his services to the country
artiste, writer and
activist succumbed to while with Unicef.
cardiac arrest at the
age of 92 years. During Back home in India he
his illustrious life span,
da Cunha had been CEO CURTAIN demonstrated his social
of advertising agency responsibility by being
Lintas (1955 to 1980),
been a prominent theatre personality and a social CALL actively involved in civic and
activist. FOR environmental issues that
OTHELO plagued Mumbai. He was
He was with the Unicef in Latin America, where he part of the citizen-led Jaago
Mumbaikar campaign and the
co-founder of Action for Good
Governance and Networking
in India (AGNI). Gerson da
Cunha began his career as a journalist with the Press Trust
of India, but went on to conquer many worlds. He will no
doubt live on in the hearts of many. — Soumya Sehgal
8 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022 Photographs by Indiapicturebudget
STRONG
AS
STEEL
THE UNION STEEL MINISTRY sees the
domestic steel industry on firm ground,
notwithstanding the challenges ahead. Steel
shone bright through most of 2021, as prices
spiked, enabling Indian steel makers to reap
profits. The production performance of the steel
sector during the April-November 2021 period
has remained quite encouraging.
The cumulative production of crude steel
at 76.44 million tonnes and finished steel at
72.07 million tonnes has been higher than that of the same spell of the three previous years. A Production Linked
Incentive (PLI) scheme for boosting domestic production of specialty steel also got approved recently. The
Union Steel Ministry envisages an outlay of Rs 6,322 crore and a slew of advantages, such as capacity addition
of 25 million tonne, an additional investment of about Rs 40,000 crore and employment generation of 5.25 lakh.
The cumulative capital expenditure (Capex) by steel central public sector enterprises for the April-November
period had stood at Rs 5,781 crore, which was 75 per cent higher than that of the corresponding period in 2020. A
combination of factors, like a weak domestic demand, falling international steel prices and the rising threat from
the Omicron coronavirus variant comes as a cloud amidst the sunshine. But we keep our fingers crossed. Steel may
shine again in 2022. —Ashish Sinha
COVID AND THE POLITICIAN
wave in 2021, poll bugles were sounded in four states
and a Union Territory, even as both central and state
governments geared up to combat Covid. The Delta
variant surged after the elections.
This time too, preparations for state elections have
picked up amidst the Covid protocols. Both the Delta and
the Omicron continue to spread and daily cases have
risen to a lakh for the third time in three years. This year
too, elections are due in four states and mobs assemble
at political rallies, roadshows, and inaugurations, where
Covid protocols are openly violated.
Ironically, Covid protocol enforcing policemen do raid
marriage gatherings, office gatherings, restaurants and
cinema halls to check the number of people assembled.
AS GOVERNMENTS BATTLE the third wave of Not only that, daily wage earners and small businessmen
the pandemic, an age-old dichotomy comes to the
surface – that of the government that governs and the fear losing a huge chunk of their income this year too
politicians who get elected to do so – and the conflicting
compulsions of the twain. At the height of the Delta owing to Covid restrictions and slow business. Yet on the
political firmament, the show goes on. Seems all’s fair in
polls and politics. — Abhinav Trivedi
9 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
NOORINGS by Noor Fathima Warsia
noor.warsia@digital
market.asia; @NFWarsia
PERFECT tion, habit is a routine or a regularly repeated behaviour,
EQUIPOISE and mindset is a set of beliefs shaped over time that in-
fluences decisions.
The year 2022 will hold the scales
of technology and the so-called In our present normal, both of these are undergoing
silent and continuous change finding their balance on
‘traditional’ aspects in a newfound what is necessary and acceptable and what becomes the
balance that would be relevant for evolutionary change for a world, where digital is every-
a transition in economy, businesses thing, lockdown or curfew is a near regular occurrence
and the next-door house that has a Covid patient is not as
& consumers alarming a detail as in the past, even though fever is still
a scare word.
T HE ‘pandemic’ of the
‘post-pandemic world’ The year 2022 will see everyone finding their most opti-
is a constant across all mal balance in all aspects of life.
areas of life in this next This will apply for all at an office
normal, which by now, is called staff level, irrespective of whether
life as usual. Restrained or exten- it is a 22-year-old, never-gone-to-
sive, new constraints rear their office, employee, or a 60-year-old
heads continually as people pre- veteran who is looking at what is
pare not only for the fallout of the the next ideal work situation for
first incidence, which is now al- him or her. This will also apply at
ready two years old, but also the management and leadership
emerging concerns such as new level that will look to balance out
variants resulting in lockdowns, their otherwise old hands and top
curfews and the like. Some values performers with those who in-
of the year gone, despite our to nately deliver newer and more re-
and fro towards normalcy, are quired skillsets, or in terms of
now the mainstay, so much so that good old practices that will have to
new balances are quietly and au- be turned on their heads to fight
tomatically finding their way in the continued disruption.
people’s lives. Importantly, this will also apply
at a leader’s level. Many leaders
Hybrid, for example, has become quite the permanent made sharp and suave moves in
word for all sectors. Whether it is at work, in structures and
processes, in engagement and socialising, or even visiting a the pandemic year and adapted this to new realities. How-
doctor or doing schoolwork, the co-existence of ‘how it was ever, more and more it is clear that any leader who misses
done’ and ‘what needs to be done’ is finding unique ver- out on being all-rounded, will not be able to handle the rig-
sions for everyone. Experts remind us that these very indi- ours of the year ahead.
vidual and broad balances are the norms that one has to
manipulate to navigate what lies ahead. The situation will not be different from the economic
perspective as well. We are seeing the projected growth
Change indeed begets change. From the pace we are trajectory frequently adjusted in response to new concerns
in, habits and mindsets, therefore, are becoming misno- but recession, inflation and similar terms are at play just as
mers. It is not unusual to hear at work that a particular much as recovery and conversations of going back to pre-
function is getting more and better work done while covid levels.
working from home. Companies in fact are paying close
attention to what the back to office structure should look There are also those voices that explain, and correctly
like changing the face of work as we knew it. By defini- so, how there is no going back to any pre-pandemic situ-
ation. The numbers are no longer comparable and the
only way to survive ahead is to find the midpoint from
where retreat and advance are strategic options than
forced tactical decisions.
10 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
COLUMN By Vikas Singh
O ur society is navigating through a most difficult phase. The pan- However today, and in the immedi-
demic has tested everyone to the hilt. A generation has been af- ate, there are challenges galore. A Crux
fected and the times we are living through will continue to haunt study highlights that about 10 per cent
many who lost their dear ones, scar materially and emotionally of the migrant labour may never re-
many of those who survived. It has inflicted misery on the poor and cover emotionally, many more finan-
they face an uncertain – even dim – future. cially.
The pandemic has made many believe that not only are humans vulnerable,
humanity is equally fragile. The world has changed forever, and the full impact of A fifth of the micro enterprises have
those changes will be felt for years to come. lost their business. A majority of the
poor have sunk their life-savings for
Covid-19 May Not be a Gateway to the Next World hospitalisation.
The pandemic will not be eradicated till everyone is vaccinated. It will linger
around, albeit with lower intensity, weaker potency. One in ten have lost their livelihood.
Most amongst them have lost the will
Amidst the gloomy environment, there is a rethink on several beliefs and axioms to rebuild. Support for the poor and the
that impact both the long and short-term choices for the economy and society. deprived remains inadequate. Many
who emerged out of the poverty trap
Embracing an
Inclusive, Resilient
& Sustainable
Future
The action, response and role of the government and its institutions need to be are getting sucked in.
revaluated. The acceleration and amplification of several trends and the realities
as a result of this calamity has triggered a reassessment in most circles about the Upended Society
future of capitalism, and its many manifestations. Responsibility has shifted from The Covid-19 pandemic has upended
institutions to individuals. The trend is gaining momentum. society, and inflicted tragic losses. It has
been a defining moment for business as
The pandemic has triggered several other debates, amongst them the well re- well. The Crux study across 500 senior
garded and accepted industrial framework, and the nature of several accompanying executives, 100 policymakers and so-
economic activities. Also being discussed is the efficiency versus resilience concept, cial commentators titled ‘How India
the future of jobs etc. How do we bring about fundamental changes? Inc. is responding to the evolving ethos’
has several ideas, and many lessons.
India needs a new multilateralism; based on a vision of economic development
that is cored around gender equality, income inclusion and sustainability. The crisis has radically altered stake-
holders’ behaviour. It has accelerated
Redistribution Trap technology adoption, ‘amended’ several
India’s goal for the next five years should be to expand the economic pie and achieve engagement imperatives, short-circuit-
‘near’ full employment. It can be achieved if policymakers usher in holistic reforms, ed’ business processes.
and our executives implement them well.
Online commerce, contactless ‘re-
We have created the platform, and have the resources to provide universal health lationship’, remote working, gig jobs,
and education coverage, necessities to all, life of economic dignity to the poorest, healthcare pivoted around technology,
and prosperity to most.
12 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
Amidst the calamity
India needs to be
prepared to allocate a
higher amount for
healthcare as most poor
don’t have the
resources to access
quality healthcare.
Policymakers need to
pay attention to the
even more serious
challenge of food
digital learning and entertainment ‘at will’ are now commonplace. They will only Amidst the calamity India needs to
grow stronger, become more prevalent, even customary. be prepared to allocate a higher amount
for healthcare as most poor don’t have
The Crux insight articulates several redeeming features from the crisis. Over 80 the resources to access quality health-
per cent of the respondents believe that the calamity is a wake-up call that must care. Policymakers need to pay atten-
‘persuade’ humanity to coexist, cooperate, and solve bigger problems. The world tion to the even more serious challenge
should collaborate to address profound challenges of climate change, hunger, and of food, and income security of the truly
health. They hope India will intensify its focus, and adopt collective attention to deprived.
both ‘pre-empt and prepare’ for similar scenarios. The study articulates that India
has both the ingredients and instruments to emerge stronger. Uneven and Lumpy Growth
India needs to identify both the means
Corporate Sector Sees Blue Skies. Agile Will Emerge Stronger and the methodology to nurture the
Most respondents feel we will look no worse, and significantly better, if we stop MSMEs for revival. India has the de-
thumping our chest. We must have the humility to recognise and the resolve to mography to be a ‘consumer’. Demand
address the several embedded problems. creation churns the virtuous growth
cycle and should be a priority. Rational-
The corporate sector played an exemplary role. It rushed help, focused on em- ising the GST rate will help. Infrastruc-
ployees and partners. Business leaders believe they have undergone several ‘stress’ ture creation and rural development
tests, that have clearly exposed their failings. The learning has been insightful, are long-term growth multipliers.
though less palatable. Over 80 per cent believe the agile will emerge stronger from
the crisis. Shared ambition must yield shared
prosperity. India needs to draft a more
Over 75 per cent recognise that the approach to business needs a rethink; the inclusive social contract, supported
pandemic has accelerated an interdependent world. A majority believe business and funded by public investment in the
will eventually recover after a wrenching period of slowdown and job cuts. Most care economy, education, and health. A
are equally seized of the need to a longer-term reinvention and putting the learn- stronger safety net and better targeted
ing in practice. Recognition is only half the battle. The corporate sector must learn basic income must get a second look.
to measure risk and mitigate that by designing bold and impactful interventions.
Many are rethinking missions, reinventing business models, redesigning strate- The choices that the policymakers
gies, collaborated for ‘on-demand’ supply chains and restructuring operations. make will shape India for decades to
come.
The Crux study highlights that a third of the large companies have ‘digital as
the core’ in their strategies. A few are progressing to ‘hybrid’. This trend could be The author is an economist and columnist
a huge opportunity for the mid-sized organisation to ‘plug’ in, and build an agile, The views expressed are personal and do not
‘demand-sensing’ support system for the larger organisations.
reflect those of BW Businessworld
The government has the fiscal bandwidth, and must go long.
Photograph by Indiapicturebudget 13 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
COLUMN Ashutosh Garg
T HE NEW YEAR IS UPON US and it is time to think of those resolu- Connect More with Friends
tions again! Whether you resolve to be fitter and healthier, connect Re-establish old connections that you
more socially or to tick off some points on your bucket list, this is a lost while you were busy at work. Don’t
time to take stock of the year gone by and to think of the year ahead. wait for someone else to take the first
Covid has taken more than its fair share of our time and energy and step. It is interesting to see how many
we have learned to understand the new normal. people are rediscovering their old
Given below are some thoughts you could consider adding to school and college friends using Face-
your list of New Year resolutions. book and LinkedIn.
Eat Better For Your Health Weekly lunches or coffee mornings
Take your health into your hands. Change your eating pattern. Take baby steps with a group of friends, WhatsApp or
toward eating right. After all, if you have been careless with your food habits, you Zoom calls with your family members
cannot change these overnight. spread across the world are great ways
of re-connecting. Time spent talking
New Year
Resolutions for
Seniors
Less fats, more fibre with a healthier gic breathing exercises, swimming or and laughing with those who mean the
mix of fruits, vegetables and nuts is cycling would be great to get into your most to you is time well spent.
always advisable for most people. As daily schedule.
seniors, it becomes even more impor- Reduce Your Belongings
tant and relevant for us to regulate our I have met several seniors who have Resolve to clean out your closets and
diet. As some wise people say, “stop eat- started running and competing with your home. Think of the difference
ing just before you are full!” Others say people of their own age. In the process between “want” and “need” before you
that at least half of your plate should of staying fit, they have also found a start this exercise. Keep things you need
be fruits and vegetables. Remember whole new community of like-minded and give away those you want. This may
that eating better is the only answer to and passionate friends. sound philosophical but try and give
reducing your weight. away whatever you have not used for
Complete Your Bucket List the past one year. Your challenge will
Find a New, Healthy Activity Give yourself a break. You have earned always be “what if ” you suddenly need
Build exercise or yoga into your daily this. Over the years, all of us have been the item again. If you decide to give
routine. A round of tennis or golf, a adding to our bucket list. This list has it away, keep this as an active resolu-
brisk walk for at least 30 minutes every kept getting longer since we were not tion till the next year and then assess
day (150 minutes per week of walking able to find the time during our work whether you felt the need for the items
is the minimum recommended), yo- life. Now is the time to start ticking off you gave away. Chances are that you will
some items.
14 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
round of golf! Now is the time to remove
all the negativity we have carried inside
us about family, friends, and the world
in general. All this negativity is only
hurting ourselves.
Get Enough Sleep
Most people seem to believe in a myth
that as you get older you need less sleep.
Nothing is farther away from the truth.
If you are sleeping late or getting up
very early, stay in bed longer than you
normally would have and soon you will
be sleeping longer and waking up much
more rested.
never miss these items. Finally, as you celebrate Get Regular Medical Check-Ups
during this festive Monitor, manage and record your blood
Brush Up on New Technology season with your loved pressure, your blood sugar, and your
Technology, as you are well aware, is ones, raise a toast to weight in a regular systematic man-
changing our world. You should have the coming year, but ner. If you don’t have any of these chal-
understood the many forms of com- with a smaller glass! lenges, consider yourself blessed. It is
munication and connection through The runway is getting necessary for you to get annual medical
Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Insta- shorter with each check-ups done and if you did not get a
gram, YouTube and so many others, it passing year. This is a checkup this year, resolve to undergo
is time to do so now. Now is the time cause for celebration a comprehensive check up in the New
to get a working understanding of the and not despair Year.
Metaverse and the Internet of Things,
Crypto, Artificial Intelligence and Give Your Brain A Workout Travel And Discover New Places
more. To brush up your own knowledge The more you exercise your brain, like Throughout your working life you
and skills, there are on-line tutorials for your body, the stronger it will be. Read would have wanted to see new places
every possible question that you may more and beyond your daily newspa- but did not have the time either because
have. per. Join or start discussion groups on of work commitments or family com-
subjects that interest you. Try Sudoku, mitments. Covid permitting, now is the
Tell Your Story Chess, Quiz Up or Scrabble. All these time for you to realise all those dreams.
Now is the time to tell your story. Write games are available free on your smart- You and your partner can travel to new
your blog and publish it on a weekly or phone. Play online with people you do cities or new countries or even discover
monthly basis. Think of all the anec- not know and compete with the best. new parts of the city you live in.
dotes in your life, the milestones in your
career and the time you spent as a child Remove Negativity and Anxiety Finally, as you celebrate during this
and your parents and your extended Life is too short and at our stage in life, festive season with your loved ones,
family and store these memories care- we are already on the “back nine” of a raise a toast to the coming year, but with
fully in writing. a smaller glass!
Not only will this record your own The runway is getting shorter with
memories and thoughts, but this could each passing year. This is a cause for
also become a record of your family his- celebration and not despair.
tory for future generations.
Wish you a very Happy, Healthy and
Prosperous New Year.
The writer is an executive coach, an angel
investor and Founder Chairman of Guardian
Pharmacies. He has authored six best-selling
books, including The Brand Called You
Photograph by CANVA 15 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
DARK ROAST DOUBLE SHOT By Nitish Mukherjee
I hours, with electronic communication no longer available we
did not even know what was happening around us and how long
T HAD BEEN THREE DAYS now. After the we would be safe.
first, electricity briefly sputtered, then
died. By the second day back-up invert- Two black dots were bobbing in the far distance, moving our
ers had also petered out. The third day way. As they came closer, we realised it was two people braving
diligently put to rest all communication the rain, coming down the village road, skirting the property.
devices of any kind. Steaming dark roast We had met them a few times working in the fields cultivating
double shots had given way to the com- potatoes. A few days ago, as we stopped by, they told us how the
forting hot brew in a moka pot. crop would be ready in a few days to be shipped to the mandi
(wholesale market).
Yet the rain seemed unstoppable.
Clouds moved constantly, with a purpo- We hailed them from the veranda enquiring if all was well
with everyone in the village below. The village they came from
was safe but in the neighbouring village people had lost lives,
homes, and livestock. Entire swathes of land had been washed
away. We asked them if their fields were safe. They said the fields
were safe but the crop would mostly rot. They shrugged their
shoulders, lowered their head against the rain and disappeared
Up-Close
or Afar?
sive randomness that would defy all pre- into the downpour.
dictability. They raced down to shroud Over the next few days, we saw first-hand the extent of dev-
the valley and then mushroomed up to
obliterate anything and everything other astation and the concomitant misery. Amidst the debris were
than its omnipresence. An unceasing tat- stories of loss, suffering, irresponsibility, bravery, sharing and
too on the tin roofs both lulled us to sleep the indomitable human spirit that was working hard to press
at the oddest hours and roused us from the reset button. Images and sounds got etched into the mind
slumber with the ferocity of a hundred that would change the response to a million headlines that I
alarm bells. Kumaon was facing its worst had seen earlier or would live to see and read. Once again, I
rains in over a hundred years. had experienced the power of proximity. Seeing something up-
close gives you a view and an understanding that no amount
The news that had filtered in was dis- of information or briefings can ever give you. There are layers
concerting. Landslides were wreaking that you cannot explore without watching it at close quarters or
havoc. Roads, habitation, and human experiencing it.
lives were crumbling against the relent-
less onslaught of water. For the last few It has been a decade of rapid changes and the unique cir-
cumstances of the last two years accelerated those changes and
16 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
altered and shaped behaviour like never
before. The digital revolution catalysed,
we were forced to work from home and
many of us have embraced it as our future
preferred way of working.
Big data and analytics is spewing out
realms of information and dashboards
are getting updated every second, AI and
machine learning can even take decisions
and action based on the data, cyber wars
and even real ones are activated from re-
mote locations. Distances seem to have
lost all significance and many of us have
great comfort with the detailed knowl-
edge at our fingertips. There is a whole
universe to explore there, whilst being
just wherever you want to be. Where then
is an argument for the need to move close
to understand anything? based on which decisions would roll. All our decisions involve
Even with expensive, detailed, and people, their beliefs and their behaviour under varying circum-
continuous monitoring with advanced stances and socio-cultural differences. The sentiments and emo-
satellites, for the best of intelligence tions whether expressed or repressed are never entirely captured
agencies one of the most valuable assets in numbers. Great leaders know that those are key determinants
is their on-ground human intelligence. It in choices that they need to make.
helps decision making and increases the With margins under pressure, the requirement to scale up
chances of operational success of their with speed is today’s gold rush. Large businesses coupled with
campaigns. Smart politicians too talk to digital enablement and technology generate vast amounts of
their agents on the ground rather than data. It is true many answers lie there, but only many or some,
not all. Many leaders have found great
Thesentimentsandemotionswhetherexpressedor comfort in the last few years on decisions
taken based on information that is served
repressed are never entirely captured in numbers. to them. Increasingly many leaders are
Greatleadersknowthatthosearekeydeterminants enjoying what they believe is the ability
to manage businesses remotely. This be-
in choices that they need to make lief over time will cause immense damage
as decision makers distance themselves
just rely on the pollsters. The truth is, from not just the reality of business but also their employees
that while technology helps you create and stakeholders.
scale and access many data points with Negotiating the space between remote and up-close will be
high frequency, behind their outcome at the heart of empathetic leadership. You cannot afford to miss
is the human interface that determines the Big Picture but it is equally important to know the brush
the direction. The choices that are made strokes that make it. So, if you ever hear yourself say “I am a
influence the results. So, even the most Big Picture guy” know that you have only half the story. You
independent and neutral data is not are a good person to have around but it is best for everyone that
without its biases. Sometimes it can tell someone else leads.
you the ‘what’ and ‘how’ but the ‘why’ is
still an inference. You can DM me on LinkedIn or write in to darkroastdouble-
People close to the action or situation [email protected]
on ground have a deeper understanding
of the situation and in critical issues can The author is a board member, advisor, coach & mentor
validate or invalidate an accepted view, The views expressed are personal
Photograph by Indiapicturebudget 17 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
COLUMN KAUSHIKPRASAD
:What Snoopy Can Teach organisations have reward and incentive
about Change Initiatives programmes for front-line staff, the ‘back-
room boys’ stay in the shadows, largely ig-
IN 1967, DURING A LAUNCH Any nored. A clearly defined and transparent
rehearsal test, all three astronauts transformation reward and recognition programme can
of Apollo-I tragically lost their lives help drive engagement across the organi-
in a command module fire. A vast requires sation and aid transformation efforts. But
majority of NASA’s 2,68,000 employees engagement also remember what Peter Drucker said,
were working on getting a handful of across the board; “what gets measured gets managed”. As
astronauts to space and NASA had to get while most you design your programme, establish the
their massively disconnected internal organisations right metrics focused on outcomes.
departments and suppliers to focus on have reward and
safety. While NASA convened a review Invest to raise the profile of your pro-
board to investigate the cause of the acci- incentive gramme, to develop internal communica-
dent, Al Chop, the then director of public programmes for tion collaterals and to celebrate winners
affairs realised that getting everyone, front-line staff, and to promote them widely. Thinking
including outside contractors, to focus on the ‘back-room about the introduction of an internal
safety needed something more. boys’ stay in the rewards programme like a new product
launch is helpful.
Al Chop had an idea for an award for shadows
safety featuring the then massively popu- The Apollo-I review board identified
lar Snoopy as an astronaut. This award seven primary causes of the accident and
was to be given by astronauts in recogni- in the aftermath, several new processes
tion of outstanding contributions made and standards were installed. The Silver
by NASA’s employees. Al got in touch with Snoopy award symbolised NASA’s
Charles Schulz, who agreed to let NASA renewed culture focused on safety.
use “Snoopy the Astronaut” at no cost. He Similarly, when organisations embark on
even created the image for the award pin transformation initiatives, multiple pro-
and posters to promote the award pro- jects and initiatives run concurrently; it’s
gramme. The first Silver Snoopy Awards important to tie these initiatives together,
were bestowed in 1968 on some of the a reward programme serves as a “gift-
crew who worked on the LTA-8 project, warp” – tying initiatives together. It also
a test version of what would become the creates a visible symbol for change, thus
lunar module. aiding communication across levels.
Employees of NASA or one of its con- Most people in business tend to be
tractors are eligible to apply for the Silver highly analytical. We dive into transfor-
Snoopy awards and today, this award is a mation projects and create process maps
high honour within NASA. It is limited to and flow charts aimed at solving customer
just one per cent of eligible recipients and issues. However, driving transforma-
an employee can receive only one Silver tion and change requires more than that.
Snoopy in his (or her) lifetime. Change initiatives like digital transfor-
mation are 95 per cent about cultural
While consistent and repeated internal transformation and five per cent about
communication is vital when organisa- the actual technology and tools. NASA’s
tions embark on initiatives like digital Silver Snoopy served as a symbol for the
transformation or transforming their ser- renewed focus on making expeditions
vice experience, this story of NASA’s Silver safer. Creating symbols and infusing
Snoopy awards holds several lessons. meaning over time can be invaluable.
And recognising employees exhibiting the
Any transformation requires engage- desired behaviour creates visible champi-
ment across the board; while most ons for the rest of the organisation.
The author is a Marketing and Sales
Professional with Ford Motor Company
The views expressed are personal
18 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
THE NEW BALANCE Minhaz Merchant
COLUMN 2022: Corporate
Catharsis
T HE COVID-19 PANDEMIC has irrevocably changed the way the world
lives and works. Things will eventually settle down. Covid will regress
from pandemic to endemic as the Spanish flu did a century ago. But
something fundamentally has changed. There are rare inflection points
in history. When Europe industrialised in the late 1700s, the concept of
the “office” did not exist. Workers lived in, or near, factories.
Ajit Balakrishnan, co-founder of Rediffusion, explains: “People
working under one roof dates back only to the Industrial Revolution
in England in the late 18th century. Richard Arkwright – the inventor of ‘water frame’,
a large cotton spinning machine powered by a water-wheel – found his machine too
large to fit into a single house. So he assembled all the people working under one roof
in a centralised location in Derbyshire, England, and called it Cromford Mill, the ‘fac-
tory’. Till then, all weaving of cloth had been done throughout the world by craftsmen
working from home.
“Just as Arkwright’s water frame drove the creation and spread of the ‘factory’, it
was the parallel growth of industries like banking, rail, insurance and telegraphy that
created the need for a large number of clerks to handle order processing, accounting,
and document filing, which created the ‘office’. It is widely believed that the East India
MINHAZ MERCHANT Company’s location in Leadenhall Street, London, in 1729 from where an army of bu-
IS THE BIOGRAPHER
reaucrats managed their colonial possessions was the first large ‘office’ in the world.”
OF RAJIV GANDHI AND
ADITYA BIRLA AND Are we therefore simply returning to the old normal that we today call the new nor-
AUTHOR OF THE NEW mal? Work from home (WFH), work from anywhere (WFA) and a hybrid mix of using a
CLASH OF
centralised open-plan office for weekly or bi-weekly meetings rather than a structured
CIVILIZATIONS (RUPA,
2014). HE IS FOUNDER 9-5 office will soon be normal practice. Technology is the enabler. Gen Z – those born
OF STERLING after 1996 – have embraced the hybrid model. They will drive change in corporate
NEWSPAPERS, WHICH
culture as they assume power and responsibility this decade.
WAS ACQUIRED BY
THE INDIAN EXPRESS But the future of work has dimensions beyond workplaces. Gen Zers are far more
GROUP likely to take on gig jobs, sacrificing the comfort and security of a fixed corporate tenure.
For them, work-life balance is a priority. Twenty-somethings in their first jobs are as
much at home on Twitch, Wickr and Reddit as they are on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twit-
ter or Instagram. Changing social media habits are a signpost of the corporate future.
These aren’t just future CEOs. They are today’s consumers.
Even communications have changed. A likely casualty will be email as people in-
creasingly communicate on P2P (peer to peer) platforms. Only when you want to send
a “Dear All” communication will email be used. For the rest it will be P2P.
Mark Zuckerberg has spotted the trend. Facebook’s new avatar Meta is an attempt
to stay relevant and draw millennials and Gen Zers back to Facebook. The myth Zuck-
erberg has sold is that Meta will open up a “metaverse”.
Why is this a myth? Because the metaverse is a newly packaged version of VR (visual
reality) and AR (augmented reality). Both have been around for decades. To experience
the metaverse, you need heavy goggles that can give you a headache unless you are a
gamer. Indeed, Facebook’s Meta will attract the huge, lucrative gaming universe filled
with under-30s. That is the future Zuckerberg sees for Meta nee Facebook.
20 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
The way young startup founders do There are and WFA/WFH have cut down commuting. That suits
business is also changing. The valuations infrastructure women. They can multitask more seamlessly with family
of their startups, many of which are not and work. There are infrastructure constraints in many
yet profitable, have skyrocketed. The constraints in
market valuation of Byju’s, for example, smaller homes with joint families, but the benefits of hy-
is estimated to be $48 billion (Rs 3.75
lakh crore) in a future Nasdaq IPO. That many smaller brid working outweigh the constraints. Besides, a lot of
is more than the combined market capi- homes with work-from-home (or anywhere) can be done in a small
talisation of Tata Motors and Mahindra corner with a laptop or smartphone.
& Mahindra.
joint families, Indians have one more advantage in the new work
But the frenetic pace of startups often
leaves scars. Founders operate in a hyper- but the benefits matrix: natural empathy. One reason why Indian-origin
competitive marketplace. Mental health of hybrid CEOs like Sunder Pichai (Google – Alphabet), Satya Na-
is a growing problem. At times, this can della (Microsoft), Arivind Krishna (IBM) and Shantanu
be fatal. The tragic death, following
cardiac arrest, of 32-year-old Pankhuri working Narayen (Adobe) score over US CEOs is the calm and
Shrivastava, founder of the Sequoia-
backed women’s social community outweigh the empathy they bring to the table.
platform named after herself, Pankhuri, constraints As Silicon Valley investor Vivek Wadhwa noted presci-
underscores the need to manage the con-
flicting pressures of work and life. ently in an oped in Hindustan Times on December 6,
Pankhuri’s demise is especially poign- 2021: “Indians learn to be resilient, battle endless ob-
ant: she was a young woman who men-
tored other women. Her platform was stacles, and make the most of what they have. Entrepre-
socially interactive and encouraged the
life-work balance the corporate world neurship, along with the creativity and resourcefulness
needs in a tech-driven society where iso-
lation can cause psychological stress. required to deal with all the obstacles, is part of life. These are all traits that any board
Technology is a double-edged sword. would recognise – and value – especially when the alternatives are arrogant company
It has flattened the playing field, giving
women new opportunities. Technology founders who believe they are entitled to their jobs.
“This is what I believe has given Indian CEOs that real advantage. When Satya
Nadella took over as CEO of Microsoft in February 2014, he inherited a toxic culture
in a company considered a tech dinosaur. Bill Gates, its founder, had been known for
berating employees, and Steve Balimer, who succeeded Gates, continued the hardball
business tactics that partners loathed. Sundar Pichai, too, inherited a company with
cultural problems. Google was known for having a permissive workplace culture,
where sexual relationships between top executives and employees generated internal
tensions. He created a culture with better values.”
Empathy and calm are qualities that will increasingly define corporate culture in
2022 and beyond.
Photograph by Indiapicturebudget 21 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
THENEWBALANCE/COLUMN By Srinath Sridharan
T have a better quality of life. And in this endeavour, we should
have frank conversations about the disruptive-innovations and
HE YEAR GONE BY has been a year of societal-changes that are around us. For they are not away, but
resilience. A year of maximum Covid im- are already here!
pact –both direct and collateral. A year
that shook the nation, despite the differ- Digital Innovation: Digital innovation will cut across more
ence of all of its isms, without doubt. A sectors and we will see some deep tech capabilities emerging in
daunting year that saw mixed emotions, Indian startups across finance, agriculture, wearables, hyper-
forced-learnings and yet the die-hard localisation, linguistics, healthcare diagnostics, and preventive
attitude to grit, survive and growth. Yet healthcare.
the wonderful news is that humanity
survived. Hopefully it will continue to be Data Privacy & Cyber Security: As much as the tech world will
cautious around the newer strains of the bring in more innovations, we will see a higher level of intrusions
too. Work on data security, privacy and data governance will
become the task-of-the-day. The qualitative aspects of cyber
security will become mainstream conversation. Platforms will
be asked to provide these as hygiene factors, and not be allowed
to misuse or use consumer data loosely for unintended purpose
Disruptions
as a Knife to
Sharpen Societal
Impact
virus, and yet be diligent about growth. and/ or without explicit consent.
The Covid impact did create wider and
Gig Economy: A gig economy is a free-market idea, in which
major socio-economic imbalances – be it temporary roles are the norm and make for hiring people for
loss of lives and livelihood or be it health short-term assignments. The gig economy represents imperma-
issues flaring up – both physical and men- nence of employment, and is vastly assisted by digitally enabled
tal. Be it confidence of people to move on, mediums. The culture and personality of the work organisations
and move ahead. Yet we persevered. are fast changing and have to adapt to the new-normal of the gig
economy. Forecasting the future of work, socio-economic trends,
The year ahead, 2022, looks to be much and learning to optimise scattered-marketplace-resources for
brighter than the low base that 2021 had better outcomes will start making news.
seen. Hopefully all of us have learnt les-
sons from the previous two years and will Web 3.0: Web 2.0, took us from static desktop webpages, to
start respecting one another and what interactive experiences and user-generated content. This tech-
nature has provided us with. Yet there nology benefits more than three billion people for 80 per cent of
are fundamental improvements that
we can help bring about, to enable us to
22 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
their waking hours every single day! The mising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Web 3.0 is the next stage of the web evo- culture and Sustainability as a concept recognises that the environment is an
personality exhaustible resource. Conversations around sustainability bring
lution that will make the internet more of the work to life everyday concepts into our lives – be it electric vehicles
intelligent or process information with organisations (EVs), efficient public transportation, optimised supply chains,
near-human-like intelligence through are fast traceability in every farm-to-plate aspect, efficient office space
the power of AI systems. It can run with- changing and and energy consumption – all of which will bring better quality
out servers, will depend on a network of have to adapt and sustainable living.
phones, computers and other devices. It to the new-
won’t allow any one entity in the network normal of the Inclusion & Diversity: Inclusion is an effort in which different
to have control on data – in a word, de- gig economy. groups or individuals of different backgrounds are culturally and
centralisation. Forecasting socially accepted and welcomed. Diversity is about respecting
the future of people for what makes them different, in terms of age, gender,
Universal Healthcare: Thanks to the work, socio- ethnicity, religion, disability, sexual orientation, education, and
digital framework policy of the govern- economic any other divisive slices they are seen in. Inclusion and diversity,
ment, internet access has been growing trends, and in short, should be about treating one another the same way as
well and quickly across India. Govern- learning to we want to be treated, and using tolerance as a way to value dif-
ment initiatives to encourage domestic optimise ferences amidst us or even amongst us! Hopefully 2022 will see
production of healthcare equipment will scattered more of this topic being actioned into our lives.
help lower costs of healthcare access. marketplace
resources Governance: The need for higher governance standards, across
Online-pharmacies and the second- for better variousspheresoflifeisbeginningtoscaleup –beitincorporate,
ary-digital-marketplace of healthcare outcomes will politics, policy making or daily living. The simple #MAAFI way
service providers have also been steadily start making could be:
increasing. The Ayushman Bharat Yojana news
– the National Health Protection Mission l Measure where one stands in the governance journey
– provideshealthcareinsurancecoverage l Announce it openly with detailed disclosures
for secondary and tertiary care hospitali- l Acknowledge any gaps and errors
sation, and could touch nearly half a bil- l Feedback loop with all stakeholders for inputs
lion Indian lives. With these platforms as l Improve the processes repeatedly for effectiveness.
base, expect Indian startup communities Of course, in the long term, self-regulation and proactively
to develop robust digital healthcare solu- managing risk-issues should become default mode.
tions.
The author is a corporate advisor and
Sustainability: Sustainability means independent markets commentator
meeting our own needs without compro-
Photograph by Indiapicturebudget 23 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
YEAR AHEAD WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2022
Omicron Threat - How
Prepared Are We?
By Abhai Soi Chairman and MD Max Healthcare
HEALTH CARE COVID-19 HAS CHANGED the healthcare landscape in the country; Medical teams
hospitals faced challenges that were unanticipated in scale when have been
the pandemic struck nearly two years ago. We, at Max Healthcare, identified,
responded with agility to mobilise resources, found reserves that we rostered
thought didn’t exist and fought the virus, with a warlike resolve. On and are
the way, we learnt innumerable lessons and incorporated these learnings in our undergoing
response as we faced waves of infection. As the Omicron threat now looms large necessary
over the country, we are better prepared to deal with the crisis than ever before. re-training
to be able to
The Variant handle the
The new Covid-19 variant – Omicron, was first reported in South Africa, new cases”
recently. The number, type and location of mutations in Omicron strain are
a big concern for the scientific world as it can potentially make it much more
transmissible and reproducible inside human cells. The virus is reported to
penetrate human cells easily and could potentially evade (most likely partially)
immunity given both by natural disease and by the vaccine. One still doesn’t
know how severe the disease it can cause. It may take a few weeks to understand
its true impact and the severity of the infection it causes.
Preparedness – Infrastructure & Resources
At our hospitals, we have re-established flu clinics, where all patients coming
with flu-like symptoms (fever, bad throat, cough, cold and body-ache) are
being examined and tested through an RT-PCR test. This allows us to keep
the out-patient areas of the hospital secure. Inside the hospitals, we have de-
veloped isolation areas and designated these as Covid-19 wards, which will be
able to take Covid-19/Omicron patients at a moment’s notice. The Covid-19
clinical protocols that have been constantly evolving have been reviewed and
updated by our senior clinical teams and have been re-circulated to the care
teams in the wards. These protocols include the latest assessment and treat-
ment guidelines for patients. Medical teams that will be deployed to manage
Covid-19 patients have been identified, rostered and are undergoing necessary
24 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
re-training to be able to handle the new cases. Arrange- Continuity Of Non-Covid Care
ments have been made for their stay in facilities close to It is important that the non-Covid services of the hos-
the hospitals so that any risk to their own families can be pital including urgent surgeries and critical treatments
minimized. Infection control protocols at the hospitals do not face disruption due to the inevitable chaos that
have been beefed up so that the risk to patients, visitors the Omicron variant is likely to cause. Thus, we have
and healthcare workers is significantly reduced. Our segregated areas and established surgical and critical
supply chain teams have been able to secure essential care protocols that will allow us to treat patients suffer-
supplies including PPE kits, gloves, medicines & equip- ing from critical illnesses such as cancer, heart, kidney
ment in adequate quantities to be able to manage a large or liver failure. We are confident that these services will
number of patients. seamlessly continue without any risk to either our pa-
tients or the healthcare workers treating these patients.
Home-Isolation Readiness
Most of the accounts of the disease from South African
and the European countries have indicated that the
Omicron variant is highly virulent but mercifully not as
lethal. Thus, we do anticipate a large number of people
catching the virus but not too many may need hospitali-
zation. Our homecare teams will be able to handhold
many of these patients, while they recover from the dis-
ease at their homes. We have significantly increased our
homecare teams & also the telecommunication & tech-
infrastructure needed to manage patients remotely.
These teams are undergoing extensive training and
should be ready to be deployed as soon as the need arises.
Accurate Testing And Agile Reporting
We also realize that we will have to be geared towards
extensive Covid-19 testing. We have deployed additional
equipment and technicians to cope with the surge in
the demand we expect in Covid-19 testing and urgent
reporting. Max labs are equipped to work round the
clock to be able to turn around reports as quickly and as
accurately as possible.
Taking Care Of Our People
As the threat of the disease multiplies every passing
day, we are diligently working towards ensuring that
our care teams remain highly motivated and up to
the challenge. We have always believed that in a pan-
demic, healthcare workers are the most critical
resources. If we expect them to take good care of our
patients, they too need to be looked after well. The
HR teams at the hospitals have rolled multiple initia-
tives to ensure high morale and energy amongst the
care teams. While the virus remains completely
unpredictable, we are far better equipped and ready
to tackle the disease. I am sure, our teams in the hos-
pital will do us proud once again.
25 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
YEAR AHEAD WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2022
Hybrid Testing,
Booster Dose Must
By Anand K. CEO SRL Diagnostics
HEALTH CARE To quickly
detect
Covid-19 cases
and slow the
virus’ spread,
India must
increase its
use of Rapid
Antigen Tests
in addition to
RT-PCR tests”
26 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
IN A PERIOD of only two months, the new variant of provide solutions to clinicians through precision diag-
SARS-CoV-2 that was first detected in South Af- nostics in the areas of oncology, reproductive health,
rica, has triggered a new wave of Covid-19 in many infectious diseases, and inherited disorders. We are
countries including UK, France, Italy and now some completely equipped to conduct genome sequencing
regions in India. tests in our labs.
Omicron variant that is known to be at least three times
more transmissible than Delta, was also designated as a The Second Wave
‘variant of concern’ by World Health Organization (WHO). While previously, Delta variant in India fuelled a deadly
Therefore, tracing the virus and monitoring its spread are second wave that overwhelmed our country’s healthcare
key to deploy effective counter measures. infrastructure, our government was quick enough to
vaccinate its people and issue necessary travel advisories
As per the recent data, India has already recorded 650+ to contain the virus.
confirmed Omicron cases with Maharashtra alone record-
ing more than 165+ cases of the new variant. It’s encouraging to see India achieve a milestone in the
nationwide vaccination drive against the coronavirus
Looking at the increasing cases, to quickly detect Cov- disease (Covid-19) with 60 per cent of its population
id-19 positive cases and slow the virus’ spread, India must fully vaccinated and about 90 per cent vaccinated with
increase its use of Rapid Antigen Tests (RATs) in addition at least one dose of vaccine.
to the “gold standard” RT-PCR tests.
As per the government data, a total of 34,208,926
RATs can help improve access to testing, without ramp- people across the country have so far recovered from the
ing up RT-PCR capacity, and help identify more positive infectious disease, which puts the nationwide recovery
cases, at a lower cost, and help better handle a possible rate at 98.40 per cent, the highest since March 2020.
third wave.
When in the US people who were fully vaccinated
Using this strategy in localised hotspots and in rural against Covid began testing positive for the virus in
areas where RT-PCR testing capacity is lower, or when greater numbers during the rise of the Delta variant, it
testing capacity is overwhelmed, can help India control was clear that the pandemic was not merely “a pandemic
a surge quickly. Whereas, flyers at the airports can opt for of the unvaccinated”.
rapid nucleic acid test (NAT).
The Role Of Vaccines
A Hybrid Model Breakthrough infections were seen amongst the vacci-
India could rely on a hybrid model – a combination of nated population as well, however, it was also found that
all these tests to combat the virus. However, the strat- those people were less likely to be hospitalized.
egy should be based on infection intensity and disease
spread in the country. Most of the healthcare workers in India were vacci-
nated in the month of February and March 2020, which
For example, if the case load and the positivity is low, could mean that their immunity levels would be all time
RT-PCR tests would suffice. But in case of a surge, such low as of now.
as during the second wave, a combination of both test-
ing techniques would help contact tracing and disease Therefore, it is very critical for our nation to start
containment. the booster dose vaccination program for healthcare
workers, senior citizens and immune compromised
Given the scale of the challenge and the danger to hu- individuals.
man lives, the efforts of the Indian government should
be applauded widely. India has taken all the necessary The good news is that in the wake of the rising cases of
steps to prepare for the possible third wave, yet we need the Omicron variant, on December 25, Prime Minister
to be cautiously optimistic based on our previous ex- Narendra Modi announced a booster dose of Covid-19
perience. vaccine, for healthcare and frontline workers and people
above 60 years of age with co-morbidities. Teenagers
Currently, the only method to detect the new variant aged 15 to 18, will also be eligible for vaccination from
is genome sequencing. At a time when the threat of the January 3.
third wave is looming, there’s a need for government to
involve the private players with capabilities to conduct With more than 2,000 government and private RT-
genome sequencing so that more samples can be pro- PCR testing laboratories in the country, I am sure we
cessed at the earliest. will be able to navigate away from this rapidly evolving
situation, where testing is absolutely critical and would
At SRL, we have established an advanced centre for play a pivotal role in combating it.
genomics at our Mumbai reference laboratory that can
27 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
YEAR AHEAD WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2022
Free Universal
Healthcare In India
By Naresh Chairman and Managing
Trehan Director, Medanta
HEALTH CARE AB-PMJAY
is the largest
health
assurance
scheme in
the world as
it provides a
health cover of
Rs 5 lakh
per family
per year”
28 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
ACHIEVING UNIVERSAL HEALTH coverage has still a significant portion of the population, known as the
been on the agenda for various nations across missing middle, which lacks health insurance.
the world, and this has been further exacer-
bated since the advent of Covid-19. The need Insurance And Its Implementation
to provide healthcare, which is accessible and In order to accommodate this “missing middle”, there is
affordable, now more than ever, has become a necessity. Cov- an urgent need to make quality healthcare accessible to
id-19 has highlighted the need for India to revamp its health- all Indians while ensuring sustainability for healthcare
care system. Building the necessary healthcare infrastructure providers. To achieve this a dual approach is required;
to cater to the needs of the population is imperative, however, continue to scale the health infrastructure with a focus
it is equally critical that insurance and coverage is provided to on public health, clean drinking water, sanitation, public
the citizens of India so that they can find an affordable means hygiene and primary care, additionally, “universalise”
to access healthcare. In order for this, a push for convergence health insurance for the entire population with a focus
of the healthcare continuum is required to break down the on secondary and tertiary care. This is coupled with the
economic barriers and constraints that are currently preva- mandate to address the following aspects – segmented
lent and help provide healthcare services and value in a much population with complementary public- private participa-
more cost-effective and efficient manner. tion, affordable product, scalability and standardisation.
The above approach shall also help healthcare providers
Government Initiatives utilise idle capacities in a sustainable manner.
Multiple initiatives by the Government of India, strong
regulatory push by IRDAI and multiple innovations by Under this segmented population approach, India can
insurers across products, channels and service delivery universalise health insurance by leveraging “nudge” prin-
have pushed insurance penetration in the country over ciples. India needs to focus on driving coverage through
the past decade. individual nudges via providing incentives through 80D
tax rebate, while making it imperative to avail government
Guaranteeing health insurance for all will help provide benefits, ridding of any asymmetry of information that is
the necessary safety net for citizens across the country, prevalent while citizens opt for health insurance, either
drastically reducing the number of people falling into private or public.
poverty as a result of financing healthcare expenditure.
Health Services
In India’s fight to make healthcare more affordable and Looking to the West, the UK Healthcare system is seen
accessible to the citizens of India, the government in 2018 as one of the most efficient in the world. It has a govern-
approved the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Aro- ment sponsored universal healthcare system, the National
gya Yojana (AB-PMJAY). This is the largest health assur- Health Service (NHS). The NHS is a series of publicly
ance scheme in the world as it provides a health cover of Rs funded healthcare systems in the UK, where the citizens
5 lakh per family per year for secondary and tertiary care are entitled to healthcare under this system, however,
hospitalisation to approximately 50 crore beneficiaries they have the choice to purchase private health insurance
that constitute the 40 per cent of the Indian population. as well.
Ayushman Bharat has represented a unique opportu- The US healthcare system is one of the costliest in the
nity to institutionalise quality healthcare, free at the point world, as they do not have a full-fledged universal health
of service for some of the most marginalised sections of the insurance system. A mixed public/private approach to
population. It essentially provides a safety net for these healthcare has been used and studies compared to other
citizens from falling into poverty due to health-related developed economies healthcare system highlights the
expenses as India currently still witnesses high levels of inefficiencies in terms of access, patient safety, and coor-
out-of-pocket expenditure. dination.
States cover an additional 13-15 crore people under Although India is moving towards its own version of
their own schemes. The Central government schemes universal healthcare, convergence of the healthcare con-
such as ESIC, ECHS, CGHS cover close to 15-18 crore peo- tinuum is required. Conversations between payers and
ple. Finally, around 12 crore people are covered through providers are necessary, and we need to move away from
private insurance. This covers a totally of 90-94 crore working in silos. Protecting lives and livelihoods of all
people in the country. Indians needs to be our fundamental concern, and the
measures undertaken by governments at all levels indicate
Although, such a vast number of people have the option that India is on the right path to insure a billion lives.
of insurance, there is still a lack of awareness that is preva-
lent leading to low insurance of penetration. Also, there is
29 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
YEAR AHEAD WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2022
Technology In
Senior Healthcare
By Mohit CEO, Columbia Pacific
Nirula Communities
HEALTH CARE Online CONVENTIONAL WISDOM WOULD imply that
pharmacies technology and senior citizens do not make
send messages easy friends.There are many reasons for the
prompting erstwhile low adoption of technology-enabled
seniors to take healthcare by seniors – and not all the blame
their daily can be laid at their doorstep. Change is difficult for any cohort
dosages along and for a demographic that places a premium on constancy
with offering and consistency, adopting a new way of accessing healthcare
solutions for is even more difficult.
booking lab
tests” The Role Of A Family Doctor
One must remember that senior citizens (baby boomers,
now in their 60s and above) have forever consulted their
friendly family doctor. This person, as much a part of the
family as any other member, has been privy to their ail-
ments, aches and pains. That said, the last two years of
pandemic enforced distancing have perforce required
both the seniors and the creators of technology-driven
healthcare to review their relationship. As a consequence,
we are seeing more solutions that are customised to the
needs of the seniors and greater adoption by seniors as
they prefer to access healthcare without necessarily ex-
posing themselves to the higher risk environment of hos-
pitals and clinics.
Online Services Helped
Online services that helped patients find and book ap-
pointments with specialist doctors in their vicinity were
among the early digital-enabled solutions to an existing
need. These services have now expanded their portfolio to
include video consultation thereby obviating the need for
the first physical visit to the doctor. Another new solution
allows senior living communities to consider installing
health kiosks which, besides connecting residents with
the empanelled consulting doctor, are also equipped with
30 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
sensors that seniors can use themselves to measure 20+ normally accompanied all tests, have long been adopted
parameters including ECG to provide the doctor with and accepted by seniors as solutions that made life easier
up to the minute medical data that assists with proper for themselves and provided peace of mind to their chil-
diagnosis. dren. However, with the advent of IoT, incorporation of
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning, digital
Another need to step out from one’s home and expose healthcare is now moving into the space of predicting
oneself to the external environment was removed with health problems before they emerge. Wearable devices,
online pharmacies that guaranteed home delivery of all connected devices placed under your mattress can moni-
medicines within ever decreasing time spans. However, tor your vitals. Backed with data from millions of users,
as we have seen, it takes much more than the guarantee changes in vitals can be used to alert patients to the need
of genuine medicines and attractive discounts to shift to seek medical intervention even when they have still
business from the neighbourhood pharmacist. Online not seen or felt the onset of any physical symptoms of an
pharmacies are now offering reminders for placing
oncoming disease.
monthly orders for medication that patients need for We have seen that doctors increasingly rely
their chronic illnesses. They even send daily reminder
messages prompting seniors to take their daily dosages on tests and laboratory reports to support and
along with offering single-window solutions for booking corroborate their initial diagnosis. With this,
laboratory tests from and at home. the need for physical visits to doctors’ clinics is
The Importance Of Technology reducing. Seniors also realise that such visits ex-
Wearable devices that sent out fall alerts, allowed one pose them to higher infection risk when they can
to measure blood sugar levels without the pin prick that get better advice without making the trip. It is
this convenience with no compromise on quality
that is seeing increasing adoption of technology-
enabled solutions by seniors.
The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission
(ABDM), not yet a part of daily life, will change
the medical data storage, access and availability
landscape. Designed to connect hospitals, en-
able digital consultation and based on affirma-
tive consent, the ABDM solution will allow dif-
ferent medical practitioners to access current
and historical medical records of the patient
thereby enabling prompt, precise and personal
care to the patient.
Demographic Structure
For a demographic that has seen in their life-
time doctors place the back of their hand to the
patient’s forehead, check a patient’s pulse as the
first step to ascertain if the person had a fever,
to be sticking their thumb into a gadget which
told them their SPO2 level is already quite a leap
of faith and a credit to their adaptability. The
future for digital-enabled healthcare is mindboggling.
The number of internet forums discussing whether AI
will replace doctors is a clear sign of the direction in which
we are headed. While this may not be something that we
will see in our lifetimes, the fact that digital medical care
is here to stay and that it has made a real and tangible
difference in the quality of life being enjoyed by seniors
is already clear to see. How far and how pervasive this
becomes, only time will tell.
31 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
YEAR AHEAD WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2022
Strengthening Private
Healthcare Networks
By Sougat CEO Apollo Preventive
Chatterjee Health
HEALTH CARE A streamlined
pathway to
facilitate the
private sector
to join hands
with the
public sector
for a national
cause is the
need of the
hour”
32 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
APHENOMENAL INCREASE in Indian popula- care system. We need to liberalize healthcare so that all
tion over the years along with the rise in number sections of the society, irrespective of their gender, equity,
of infectious diseases and now with the Covid class and caste are able to access healthcare.
prevailing has acted as a driver for private sec-
tor healthcare networks to be supported so that Though there is a push towards digital healthcare, we
together with the government we can provide a robust future- need to see that all sections of our country are able to access
ready healthcare infrastructure by 2022. While as a country it like the banking and telecom revolution. The digital and
we aspire for a US$5 trillion economy but at the same time as telemedicine transformation needs to start from our doc-
per a WHO report India envisages US$3.2 trillion spent on tors and healthcare staff to start using it actively. There is
health crisis in the next five years. The said figures excite and a need to have empathy as the out of pocket expenditure is
shock us at the same time. The only way to mitigate the prob- still about 70 per cent and above and the insurance pene-
lem is by empowering and strengthening the private sector tration is still very less. Trained manpower at the grassroots
network, by which we can provide reach and also by means of level where our majority of population resides needs to be
volume bring down the value and make it affordable. pushed which the government has started doing.
The Population Of Our Nation And Its Effect Mental Health Issues
India is a country of 1.35 billion people and there is no There is a need to focus on prevention and tackle non-
one size fits all solution. Health lies in the context of social communicable diseases and mental health issues urgently.
determinants like access, poverty, gender, class inequali- We need to quickly start plugging these gaps rather than
ties and one needs to be sensitive to all. There is a need to again pushing them under the carpet. We have been hav-
focus on primary, secondary care and preventive services ing an ostrich with its head in the sand approach towards
to expand the reach and ensure early diagnosis and de- these areas and it’s high time we invest our energies into it
tection. Right now tertiary and curative care is heavily with a long term perspective apart from looking to generate
focused upon and that is also concentrated in few pockets profits and returns immediately. It is clearly evident from
and metros of the country. Asset light models in specialised the pandemic that if the society enjoys good physical and
care which can be replicated in tier-2 and 3 cities need to mental health, then rest follows as a consequence of better
be encouraged. Trained healthcare manpower also wants employment, opportunities and economic growth.
to migrate abroad and practice where bigger hospitals and
infrastructure exists. India’s total healthcare spending is at 3.6 per cent of
GDP, which is very less compared to other developed coun-
Digital Transformation tries. There is definitely a need to increase investment
Digital transformation can help people access health- in the healthcare sector. There is also a need to change
care but it also needs to be balanced with its use and ease the paradigm of healthcare delivery through asset light
of adoption. Entrepreneurship in healthcare should be models, prevention and primary care services. We need
encouraged and doctors and business teams who want to address the inequalities existing in the society. We do
to venture and set up facilities in rural areas should be compare the investments done in developed countries
incentivised. There is an opportunity to explore better but we would need to tweak what are the problems we are
private-public partnerships. The Bhore Committee report facing and invest accordingly in the long term. Impact in
of 1946 still is the fundamental report which focuses on healthcare outcomes take a long time and areas of primary
holistic care in the country to tackle communicable and care and mental health , medical devices, specialised care
non-communicable diseases. Therefore, creating skilled centres in tier-2 and 3 cities and access to insurance is
manpower, asset light specialised models which could be needed. We need to increase our spending to at least 8 per
scaled up across the country, digital transformation, ad- cent of the GDP and build manpower and infrastructure
dressing social inequalities can help us address healthcare across the rural and semi-urban areas in the country.
issues. These Covid times have brought issues of access,
mental health and availability of services to the forefront. Healthcare is a fundamental right. Covid-19 has exposed
It might happen that these concerns might again recede the gaps and lacunae in our healthcare system and we need
to the background once this exigency of the pandemic to start urgently addressing them by increasing the invest-
subsides. We hope that our country and civil society, ad- ment and making healthcare more accessible, affordable
ministrators and politicians learn and reflect and use this to all. The private medical sector is a resource that must be
adversity to bring in the necessary changes to our health- estimated for efficient inclusion into public healthcare. A
streamlined pathway to facilitate the private sector to join
hands with the public sector for a national cause is the need
of the hour.
33 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
YEAR AHEAD WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2022
OVERVIEW ECONOMY The Year 2022 is going
Year Of
Recovery to be very crucial for
IN INDIA, UNCERTAINTY over the economic outlook the Indian economy.
was highest this year, especially after the devastating
second wave. However, after fighting several odds, the The way Omicron
country’s economy is on a steady path of recovery, as
per economists. After plunging to a long term low, the variant will pan out
GDP development rate has ricocheted back. India’s economy
is expected to grow by 8.5 per cent in 2022, according to In- will further determine
ternational Monetary Fund projections. The government’s
infrastructure push, effective monetary policy, widening of the pace and nature
the performance-linked incentive scheme, structural reforms,
crypto and digital assets along with boost in financial technol- of this recovery. By
ogy in rural India are one of the major components that are
expected to fuel the economic recovery. Here are the top five Abhishek Sharma
early trends that will accelerate economic growth in 2022.
will be based on Rs 111 lakh crore National Infrastructure
Effective Monetary Policy Pipeline (NIP) and the ‘PM Gati Shakti’ that can decrease
In December, the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of logistics costs from 13 to 8 per cent in the next four to five
RBI kept the repo rate under the liquidity adjustment facil- years. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman recently said
ity (LAF) unchanged at 4.0 per cent, the reverse repo rate at that India is in no hurry to withdraw coronavirus stimu-
3.35 (unchanged) per cent and the marginal standing facility lus measures which will provide the support needed for
(MSF) rate and the bank rate at 4.25 per cent. We continue to economic growth. Policies like an increase in the stimulus
expect the RBI to fine-tune the surplus liquidity to manage package, production-linked incentive scheme (PLI) and
rates and consequently provide guidance on the operating project management professional (PMP) will attract for-
target rate shifting closer to the repo rate. We retain our base eign investments along with initiatives like PMJDY is go-
case of a reverse repo rate hike in February if the Omicron ing to help the Indian economy to avoid a severe downturn.
variant remains a concern, we expect a reverse repo hike of
around 20 bps possible in the February policy and a more Cryptocurrency & Central Bank Digital Currency
aggressive liquidity withdrawal. Early estimates suggest that Crypto and focus on its regulation are one of the trends
all constituents of aggregate demand will further enter the that will dominate in 2022. The upcoming stage is termed
expansion zone, with exports and imports markedly exceed- as ‘Web 3.0’ by the industry, where decentralised inter-
ing their pre-Covid-19 levels. net draws on blockchain technology and data owned by
consumers can help Indian economic growth and boost
Government Initiatives/Expenditure Spending its GDP. Digital assets such as cryptocurrencies, bitcoin,
In 2022-23, the Centre is going to spend big on booster Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC), non-fungible
shots of Covid-19 vaccines, health infrastructure in the tokens (NFTs) and others can help India to achieve the
smaller cities, welfare schemes for the poor, food subsidy, USD 1 trillion economy by 2030, according to US-India
easier loan access for the smallest borrowers and capi- Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) and US-based
tal expenditure. Capex and infrastructure development crypto exchange CrossTower.
The different sectors utilising blockchain technology like
healthcare, supply chain, loyalty and rewards, payment
and remittances, financial services and art, can add up to
$1.42 billion, $68.6 billion, $2.8 billion, $21.7 billion, $13.3
billion and $51.5 billion by 2032.
Meanwhile, the Chief General Manager of RBI’s Depart-
ment of Payment and Settlement, P Vasudevan said that
34 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
the Central Bank is likely to pilot its CBDC Cryptocurren- scheme aims to add 30 lakh digital payments
in FY22. cies, bitcoin, touchpoints in tier-3 to tier-6 areas along with
North-Eastern states. Meanwhile, the Minis-
Consumer Spending Central Bank try of Electronics and Information Technology
In India, consumer spending went up to Rs Digital Currency, (MeitY) is going to establish the Common Ser-
19,483.46 billion in Q3 2021. Hence, it is vice Centres (CSCs) as digital financial hubs.
expected to be Rs 21,798.00 billion by the NFTs and others The Centre has invested over Rs 65 crore to
end of this quarter, according to Trading can help India to promote digital financial services such as
Economics global macro models and ana- IMPS, UPI, Bank PoS machines, etc. This will
lysts’ expectations. However, in 2022, con- achieve the USD lead to awareness among rural people about
sumer spending is estimated to be around Rs 1 trillion econo- governmental policies and digital finance op-
23,324.00 billion, according to our econo- tions available for them. Private companies
metric models. my by 2030 are not lagging behind. E-commerce giant
Amazon has invested Rs 225 crore in its In-
Fintech Dominance In Rural India dian digital payments arm and is estimated to
Financial technology adoption in rural India is going to in- corner 63 per cent of the market share by 2025. Several fintech
crease in 2022, which will set the stage for the rural economy companies provide innovative technologies like voice-based
to grow. Recently, Sitharaman asked the Indian Banks Asso- payments solutions (no internet required) and a smartphone
ciation to boost the presence of banking services in rural India. to merge fintech with agriculture, education and healthcare.
Also, RBI has initiated the Payment Investment Development These developments which are all set to take place in 2022
Fund (PIDF) with a starting corpus of Rs 345 crores. This will set a stage for India to become a digital-first economy.
35 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
YEAR AHEAD WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2022
Policy Setting:
A Delicate Choice
By Indranil Pan Chief Economist Yes Bank
ECONOMY INDIA’S GROWTH RECORDED a stellar 20.1 per cent for Q1FY22 and 8.4 per The govt
cent in Q2FY22. Most forecasters have pencilled in a 9.5 per cent or therea- needs to
bouts real growth for the year, after a contraction of 7.3 per cent in the previ- continue to
ous year. 2021 has thus been a period of rebuilding for the economy. India maintain its
is like a child, badly injured in an accident and is just starting to get back on redistributive
its feet, though it would still need support. The year 2022 is likely to continue to policies like
pose challenges and policy support will be crucial to ensure a safe soft landing for employment
the economy. generation,
access to
Monetary Policy education and
After the Covid-19, monetary policy was the first to support by easing policy rates healthcare”
and simultaneously ensuring adequate system liquidity. Even as the RBI lowered
the policy rate to 4 per cent, it moved the reverse repo rate lower (widened the LAF
corridor) to try and nudge banks to lend rather than passively return the surplus
liquidity to the RBI.
Further, it expanded its balance sheet to ensure the government’s large borrowing
program is completed smoothly. RBI also expanded its role to direct credit flows to
the neediest sectors, targeted lending facilities such as the TLTROs are examples.
Monetary policy is at a crossroads now, inflation has surprised the world, not
only being high but also proving to be sticky. For India, high and sticky inflation is
associated with a large negative output gap, making the situation difficult for RBI.
The RBI has tilted towards supporting growth and hence stayed put with a repo
rate of 4 per cent and its accommodative stance. However, the situation could turn
tricky if the globe (especially the US Fed) launches an aggressive withdrawal of
monetary accommodation, or if India’s inflation shows signs of getting entrenched.
The RBI has started to move away from the coronavirus-led excessive easy mon-
etary policy. It has soaked up the overnight liquidity. Its VRRR rate is now close
to the repo rate (signalling rate). All other interest rates have started to exhibit an
upward momentum and we may just be a few months away from the time RBI
would have to raise the repo rate. This means that the support of low-interest rates
for the economy would be over soon.
Fiscal Policy
With monetary policy tightening, the mantle for supporting growth falls on the
lap of fiscal policy. This is contrary to some expectations in the market that the fis-
36 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
cal consolidation would start in FY23 with the budget on wastefully spent. But Private
February 1, 2022, adhering to a path of correction in the Final Consumption Expend-
Gross Fiscal Deficit/GDP ratio. iture (PFCE) remains the
most crucial contributor to
The criticality of fiscal policy is also borne out by the the economy with its 50 per
fact that various segments of the economy continue to face cent plus share in the GDP.
different kinds of stress. Interest rate tools may not be best PFCE is yet to recover to the
suited in this situation. pre-Covid-19 levels, even as it
recorded a 9 per cent Q-o-Q
On the production side, the organised, listed companies growth in Q2FY22.
have weathered the storm better -- managing to deleverage,
gain market share vis-à-vis the smaller entities and are thus Valuables on the expendi-
in a better position to even pass on the higher input costs ture side of GDP have jumped
to the consumers. by 603 per cent on Q-o-Q ba-
sis in Q2FY22 and is also up
Government policies had been put in place to enable by 183 per cent compared to
faster growth in private investments especially with the PLI Q2 of last year. This repre-
scheme, reduction in corporate tax rates etc. But the reality sents purchases of expensive
is that private sector companies have not been forthcom- durable goods that do not de-
ing with capacity-building investments, even though their preciate over time but are not
balance sheets are lean and trim and are well equipped for used in consumption or even
the same. The reason -- capacity utilisation levels are low production.
and hopes for a surge in private consumption demand is
lacking. Probably, the excess sav-
ings that were piled up by the
It is probably time for consumers to receive some help upper strata of the society during Covid-19 is now being
from the fiscal side, also as the lure of extremely low-inter- spent for these purposes and this boost to the GDP might
est rates are likely to go. not be sustainable.
Through the Covid-19 stress, fiscal policy has shied away Redistributive Policies
from any direct cash transfer fearing that these could be Rural wage growth is low and negative on a real basis. The
gap between employment provided and work demanded
under the rural employment guarantee scheme is large,
meaning labour is yet to come back for their urban jobs
and rural jobs beyond the MNREGA are difficult to find.
All this forms the basis for arguing that fiscal policy needs
to take up the mantle to provide stability to growth, not
only for the near future but also keeping the long-term
imperatives in mind. The government needs to continue
to maintain its redistributive policies and boost employ-
ment generation.
Inequality exists in the access of education and health-
care, areas that the fiscal should start addressing. Efforts
at reskilling need to be boosted urgently for labour to be
absorbed in the newer growth areas. This is unlikely to
be achieved in just a year, but somewhere a start must be
made.
For resources, the government needs to take its asset
monetisation plans and divestment efforts seriously, and
tighten tax compliance alongside some redistributive tax
policies. .
37 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
YEAR AHEAD WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2022
Road To Success
By Sandip CEO Tradeindia
Chettri
EE CN OE NR OG MY Y INANERA ofpositiveeconomic
and sustainable growth, the
Indian economy faced a major
setback due to the pandemic.
To bring the economy back
on track, the government intends to
drive a few basic pillars of growth --
public spending, private investment,
consumption demand and exports.
The economic survey released in
January this year, projected a GDP
growth of 11 per cent by the end of
March 2022. This growth is expected
to be backed by various push reforms,
eased regulations, infrastructural in-
vestment, a surge in manufacturing,
and an increase in the overall con-
sumption of the country’s population.
Let us understand how the Indian
government plans to boost the econ-
omy under the four pillars of growth:
Public Spending
Also known as capital/public
expenditure, it is the money
directly spent by the ruling gov-
ernment on various public assets
like equipment, building, land,
health facilities, education, etc.
The new budgetary allocation for
capital spending in fiscal year
(FY) 2021-22 is Rs 5,54,236 crore
that is up by 34.5 per cent over FY
2020-21. This is a very significant
move against the backdrop of the
38 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
economic slowdown. Capital expenditure is identified a major setback due to the coronavirus pandemic. The
as a key factor that contributes to long term economic country experienced one of the worst declines in growth
growth and employment. Thus the creation of capital rate amongst the emerging economies. Public expenditure
assets ensures future cash flows. So with an emphasis on infrastructure, e-commerce, startups, technology and
on capital spending, attention must also be paid to the digital transformation will positively contribute to eco-
timely project delivery within the allocated budget by nomic growth. These elements are reinforced by India’s
increased monitoring, redress mechanisms, and meth- more visible economic prospects, owing to its large middle
ods for controlling project delays. class and young workforce. India also continues to remain
an attractive destination for FDI investments. India is a
Private Investment particularly attractive place for foreign investment, thanks
Though a sharp pick-up is expected in the next year, it will to extensive tax reforms and the rupee-dollar parity.
still take time to reach pre-pandemic levels. Both consum-
er and business sentiments will act as a major force pulling Challenges in Economic Recovery
the country’s growth. Union Budget 2021-22 specially aims Though even with all these projections of positive eco-
at enhancing the investment environment of the market. nomic growth for the coming year, it will also bring up
Schemes like PLI (production-linked incentive scheme) some challenges for the policymakers and government. A
will encourage growth in sectors like telecom, IT, mobile, rise in inflation would be the most obvious. The pandemic
etc. Easy clearances, lesser red tape and industry-friendly has disrupted supply chains, resulting in a global increase
policies will also induce private invest- in commodity prices such as raw ma-
ments. However, this also depends on terials, vegetable oils and manufactur-
how the government promotes other ing expenses, among other things. This
factors like land, water and electricity had an effect on India as well. A lot of
to support the prospective investors. it would require well-thought out gov-
ernment intervention.
Exports The Omicron concern is also loom-
The new year is expected to be backed ing globally. Though it is too early to
by increased global and domestic de- We are comment, its impact would be far
mands with strong government-led lesser as compared to the first wave in
production initiatives. The World witnessing an 2019. The Indian economy is already
Trade Organisation has also predicted showing signs of recovery but a ma-
a 4.7 per cent expansion in global mer- asymmetrical jor boom is expected by the last three
chandise by the end of 2022. The ex- quarters of 2022. Consumption and
port industry was one of the worst-hit recovery investment are still weak at the mo-
during the pandemic and its speedy ment, however, the government’s na-
recovery can be a determining factor tional monetisation plan is expected
to the upward growth of the domestic wherein to boost public investment and overall
economy. But an export-led recovery infrastructure too. The agriculture
is further dependent on many factors. robust sector is expected to grow through the
Most of the export growth has been introduction of new technologies in-
led by traditional sectors like engineer- economic cluding rural demand.
ing, petroleum, and gems and jewellery So it can be concluded that economic
only. Market and sector diversification growth is growth and recovery in post-pandemic
would be a key here too. Until March times will involve a lot of government
2022, the government should consider something the intervention. It is important that the
providing export-led incentives. The government creates an environment
MEIS (Merchandise Exports from In- govt intends and structure that enables various sec-
dia Scheme) was phased down earlier tors to flourish. A combination of plans
this year in favour of the Remission of including but not limited to increased
Duties and Taxes on Exported Prod- to achieve ” investment, increased revenue, lower
ucts (RoDTEP). This initiative will costs, encouraging innovation and
help to recover losses in the domestic workforce development can lead to
sector. The Indian growth story faced sustainable economic growth.
39 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
YEAR AHEAD WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2022
Growth Story Of
Rural Fintech
By Sanjeev Kumar Co-Founder & CEO Spice Money
ECONOMY INDIA’S FINTECH INDUSTRY has made significant progress owing to the Video
rapid adoption of technology, digital transformation thereby creating new interface
possibilities for companies to offer various financial services. Although fin- and voice
tech has been gaining great traction in urban areas with the emergence of assistance
several new-age startups and digitally savvy consumers, there is a huge void will emerge
in terms of the number of fintech players catering specifically to rural consumers. as game-
changers for
Challenges In Rural India the last-mile
Although more than 65 per cent of our population resides in rural India, there is delivery of
a dearth of formal banking infrastructure serving them. There are many digital financial
b2c fintechs catering to the needs of the urban population but rural markets solutions”
are still deprived of such financial services.
While the government has launched the JAM trinity to bring the rural popu-
lation under the formal banking system, the problem of access to basic bank-
ing infrastructure in rural India is still pertinent. Despite being a cash-driven
economy, rural India grapples with challenges like low penetration of ATMs
and bank branches. Only 5 per cent of the 6,00,000 villages had a commercial
bank branch in 2019.
When compared to its global counterparts, India is among the countries to
have the lowest ATM penetration in the world. Rural areas account for only
20 per cent of all ATMs in the country. There is only one ATM available for 10
villages.
Infrastructural costs, low usage due to lack of awareness, inconsistent avail-
ability of electricity, theft, vandalism are some of the major deterrents for
physical bank branches and ATM operators in rural areas. Such challenges
continue to slow down the provision of basic banking amenities to this seg-
ment of the population.
The Paradigm Shift
The emergence of innovative tech-led solutions, penetration of broadband
internet and the readiness of rural consumers towards digital financial services
have resulted in a gradual improvement of the situation. Rural areas have
40 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
showcased visible growth for internet and smartphone Also, the direct transfer of government schemes and
usage in the last few years. While internet usage has benefits have made rural consumers more aware of the
been growing in the urban areas, rural India is driving digital payment modes.
a significant amount of traction given the availability
of affordable mobile broadband services offered by tel- The Big Opportunity
ecom players in India. The introduction of various financial inclusion pro-
grammes by the government including Jan Dhan 3.0
According to a report by the Internet and Mobile As- that will focus on doorstep banking and digital financial
sociation of India (IAMAI) and consulting firm Kantar, products is helping to boost the financial ecosystem
the rural internet user base in India is growing over for rural India by creating a shift from cash to digital
three times faster than its urban counterparts. transactions.
The implementation of Aadhaar Enabled Payment Additionally, the coming together of multiple play-
Services (AePS) has also played a key role in transform- ers to build customised solutions for rural citizens help
ing the state of financial services in rural areas by ena- bridge the existing gap in the rural parts of the country.
bling customers to withdraw and transfer money using This shift in digital behaviour and adoption has aided a
biometric authentication. This has helped in the timely few fintech companies to focus on rural markets better
delivery of financial services to the remotest parts of the and to reimagine the banking and payment ecosystem
country, especially post the outbreak of the pandemic. in rural India.
Going forward, more and more companies will build
a marketplace model at every block level in rural India
offering a diverse range of products and solutions to suit
the needs of the rural consumers.
While most companies are focussing on basic bank-
ing and payment solutions at present, now is the time
to introduce more customised solutions in terms of sav-
ings, insurance and credit products. Along with that, a
big opportunity lies in digitising the hyper-local supply
chains led by digital payment solutions.
Companies can focus on digitising inventory for Kira-
na stores, dairy firms etc. and provide digital payment
and credit solutions to them thereby building a holistic
digital ecosystem in rural India.
The people living in rural areas need handholding or
assistance due to less financial literacy. Hence compa-
nies will continue to follow the ‘Phygital’ model by hir-
ing local entrepreneurs to provide banking and digital
services to rural consumers.
Additionally, companies can also introduce strategic
initiatives including awareness programs and digital
campaigns in regional languages to educate the masses
and make them comfortable with the digital processes.
This will help in reducing scepticism about digital fi-
nancial solutions.
Further to these, video interface and voice assistance
will emerge as game-changers for the last-mile delivery
of financial solutions in rural India over the next few
years.
With all the trends that we have observed in 2021, it
is imperative that there will be an exponential increase
in the adoption of financial technology in rural areas in
2022, thereby ensuring sustained growth of the rural
economy.
41 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
YEAR AHEAD WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2022
Adding Fuel To
Economy
By Soumya Group Chief SBI
Kanti Ghosh Economic Advisor
ECONOMY THE GLOBAL ECONOMY is
recovering from the pan-
demic led economic losses
but the renewed surges of
the pandemic in some ju-
risdictions in the second half of 2021 is
worrisome. Taking note of some loss of
pace in H2 2021, IMF has revised down-
wards its forecast to 5.9 per cent in 2021,
indicating supply chain bottlenecks and
rising energy prices as downside risks.
However, from the domestic side, India
has seen a strong rebound in economic
activity with the subsiding of the infec-
tions and ease of localised restrictions,
aided by massive vaccinations across
the country. With this, India’s real GDP
grew by 8.4 per cent in Q2 FY22 while
real GVA increased by 8.5 per cent, a tad
higher than the GDP growth.
Despite the smart growth of 20.1 per
cent and 8.4 per cent real growth in Q1
and Q2, respectively, a real loss of Rs 3.2
lakh crore still needs to be recouped to
reach the pre-pandemic level. Sector-
wise data indicates that ‘Trade, Hotels,
Transport, Communication & Services
related to Broadcasting’ are still the
most impacted sectors and the real loss
of Rs 2.6 lakh crore is still needed to be
recouped in this sector.
Overall, the economy is still operating
42 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
at 95.6 per cent of the pre-pandemic level (with ‘Trade, Hotels, Economic Recovery
Transport, Communication & Services related to Broadcast- Going forward, revenue expenditure (less of interest pay-
ing’ still at 80 per cent) and should take one more quarter to ments and subsidies) of the government (Centre + 18 states)
recoup the losses. during November-March 2021-22 is expected to grow by 27
per cent, after accounting for expenditure proposals contained
Consumption Recovery in the SDG-2 and assuming states will meet their budgeted
Though we expect GDP growth for FY22 to top 9.5 per targets. Similarly, capital expenditure is expected to grow by
cent and in the range of 7-9 per cent for FY23, the future 54 per cent during November-March. The higher revenue
growth will largely depend upon the consumption recov- expenditure growth, a proxy of government final consumption
ery. In absolute real terms, private consumption, govern- expenditure, is expected to support economic recovery, while
ment consumption and capital formation have still not robust capex could crowd in private investment and improve
attained the level seen in FY20. Private final consumption medium-term growth prospects.
expenditure (PFCE) posted an uptick on a y-o-y basis due However, everything depends upon how the fear of Omi-
to a faster resumption of contact-intensive services and cron or the third wave materialises. Globally, in the wake of
restoration of consumer confidence but remained below surging infections, supply chain snags, logistic disruptions
2019-20 levels. Overall, the diagnosis of the economy on and inflation touching multi-year highs in several economies,
the domestic front is output which is still below the poten- Omicron is sparking fresh waves of containment measures
tial level and is facing high inflationary pressure. The con- and travel restrictions. These developments have tempered
sumption recovery in the H1 FY22 is the momentum of global growth and
not broad-based. The revival of con- trade, even as mounting inflation risks
sumption demand holds the key to have brought forward policy normalisa-
overall recovery. tion timelines in several countries.
Continued direct transfers under the Domestically also, concerns revolving
PM Kisan scheme are supporting rural around the spread of Omicron are surfac-
demand. The demand for work under ing. It might derail the nascent growth.
the MGNREGA has moderated in No- While the healthy pace of vaccinations
vember/December from a year ago, sug- The higher (65 per cent of the eligible population
gesting a pickup in farm labour demand. is fully vaccinated) and introduction of
The results of the corporates indicate revenue ‘precautionary dose’ augurs well for the
that they have gained strength and resil- economy, the looming threat of Omicron
ience through the pandemic. Bank credit calls for observing greater caution and
growth is also showing signs of a gradual expenditure readiness to respond swiftly.
recovery, led by the retail segment, main- Going forward, the main objective of
ly by home loans, Xpress credit and gold growth, a the budget should be to create an envi-
loans. Corporate growth was impacted ronment that will give further impetus
by lower utilisation, pricing pressure, proxy of final to growth by creating an enabling condi-
holding on of private investments and tion by giving higher weightage to short
big-ticket resolutions. consumption term stabilisation policy rather than a
The growth in retail loans is more of an long term policy. The budget should also
industry trend, with the pandemic acting expenditure, allow for very gradual fiscal consolida-
as a booster for the tectonic shift, but at tion. Further, rationalising the existing
a broader level it reflects the aspirations is expected taxation structure on contractual sav-
of resurgent India, with a constantly ings to promote savings is also the need of
expanding middle class seeking ‘ease of the hour. At current savings, financing of
living while getting attuned to affluence to support growth looks difficult beyond the poten-
too, in an increasingly globalising world tial growth of 6-6.5 per cent. Additional-
that swiftly embraces digital platforms. economic ly, there is a need for the rationalisation of
Additionally, the upwardly mobile rural taxation on domestic fuel, which will di-
population throws new vistas of oppor- recovery ” rectly impact the consumption demand.
tunities as they move up the ladder on However, this needs the coordination
multiple pivots, well anchored by ena- of the Centre as well as the states at the
bling policy measures. highest level.
43 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
YEAR AHEAD WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2022
A Case For Modernising
Domestic Manufacturing
By Rahul Sharma CEO – Aluminium Vedanta
Business
INDIA IS GRADUALLY waking up to the potential of its minerals and metals in- Aluminium
dustry, which ensured that the wheels of the economy kept running, despite is a metal of
the ravages of the pandemic. In fact, India’s mining GDP increased from Rs significant
739.90 billion in the fourth quarter of 2020 to Rs 913.03 billion in the first strategic
quarter of 2021, as per data from the Ministry of Statistics and Programme importance
Implementation (MOSPI). As the world looks at a ‘China+1’ strategy for establish- to India,
ing reliable supply-chains across industry sectors, India is poised to capitalise on its critical to
natural advantages of rich mineral resources, strategic geographic location, skilled almost all
human capital and manufacturing prowess to become the preferred manufacturing sectors of
destination of the world. significance to
modern life”
Aluminium, the strategic metal
The aluminium industry is the largest non-ferrous metal industry in the world
economy, and ranks second, next only to steel, in terms of volumes used due to
its versatility and diverse applications. India is a leading player in the global
aluminium industry with the second largest aluminium production capacity of
about 4 MTPA ex-China. Aluminium is a metal of significant strategic importance
to India, critical to almost all sectors of significance to modern life and essential
to build a sustainable tomorrow. By virtue of its unusual properties like high
strength-to-weight ratio, exceptional design flexibility, superior thermal and
electrical properties, 100 per cent recyclability over and over again, aluminium’s
demand in space exploration, aviation, electric vehicles, renewable energy pro-
duction, electricity transmission, construction, consumer goods, and more, is
only slated to increase.
The metal(s) of the future
For India to be a manufacturing powerhouse, value addition and product innova-
tion will play a key role in modernising the landscape of domestic manufacturing.
High quality and high precision production in India will be crucial in propelling
the wheels of India’s manufacturing prowess. And therefore, being India’s largest
producer of aluminium and value-added products, we see our role as that of a cata-
lyst, giving Indian manufacturers an edge above the rest. Therefore, we not only
offer them the highest quality of products, but also innovations and customisations
perfectly tailored to their needs, technical support and global expertise, as well as
supply chain reliability. As the applications of aluminium continue to evolve, we
44 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
are partnering with our customers to co-create the metals Debottlenecking the road ahead
of the future. The competitiveness of the domestic aluminium industry
is pivotal to the success of major government initiatives
Case in point, our highly advanced R&D capability has like ‘Make in India’, ‘Smart Cities’, ‘Power for All’, and the
allowed us to produce sophisticated alloys such as primary indigenous space programme. The recent progressive re-
foundry alloy and cylinder-head alloy for the automotive forms made by the government are welcome. To overcome
industry, and AlSi3 for the steel industry for the very first the challenges the aluminium sector is facing requires a
time in India. Before we produced them indigenously, these strategy for security of raw materials like bauxite and coal,
alloys were being entirely imported into India. We also proper infrastructure, competitive rates for power and
recently launched high-speed billets, a special billet vari- energy requirements, preference for domestic industry
ant with advanced metallurgical properties to significantly and domestically produced aluminium, and safeguard
boost productivity of extruders. measures against increasing non-essential aluminium
Sustainability will be pivotal scrap imports with BIS standards for imported alumin-
Sustainability is no longer a matter of choice, rather a ium scrap. A National Aluminium Policy along the lines
matter of how fast and how efficiently we must achieve it. of the National Steel Policy which focuses on a holistic
Vedanta Aluminium’s growth story over the past decade short-term, medium, and long-term vision identifying
stands testimony to it. From FY12 to FY21, we have almost growth targets for demand
tripled our production, and parallelly reduced our GHG and capacity augmentation
emission intensity by 21 per cent against the same baseline. and encouraging domestic
This was possible due to our laser-focus on conceiving industry is the need of the
growth plans on the bedrock of Environmental, Social and hour.
Governance (ESG) excellence. In fact, Vedanta Aluminium
has ranked fourth amongst global aluminium companies Crystal ball gazing
in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) for 2021 – The global aluminium con-
our maiden foray into DJSI. Leading-edge technologies, a sumption has been driven
digital-first approach and global collaboration on emerging majorly by India and China
technologies to develop new ways of working to accelerate having growth rate of ~10%
this transition, will be crucial to achieving this target. till pre-Covid times. Last
decade has seen India’s
consumption almost dou-
ble from 2.2 MT in FY-11
to about 4 MT in FY-19. In-
dia’s aluminium demand is
estimated to double again by
2025 with current resilient
GDP growth rate driven by
increasing urbanisation and
push for boosting domestic
infrastructure, automotive,
aviation, defence, and power
sectors.
With that in mind, we are developing the world’s largest
Aluminium Park near our aluminium smelter at Jharsu-
guda, which is among the world’s largest. It will attract
hundreds of SMEs in extrusion, electrical, casting, auto
ancillaries, packaging, etc. to set up their plants near our
smelter, with benefits of liquid metal, water, power, dross
processing plant and access to our world-class R&D and
innovation facilities.
By supporting aluminium-based industries in a robust
ecosystem for creating cost-competitive aluminium prod-
ucts, we aim to establish India strongly on the global map
as the manufacturing capital of the world.
45 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
YEAR AHEAD WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2022
Create in India is Going port resulting in multiplier effects for the
to be a Key Focus Area economy. The domestic demand itself is
worth $130 billion for the next five years
By Kishore Jayaraman, President, and this also can increase significantly
Rolls-Royce India & South Asia if we consider the export opportunities.
Defence was one of the few sectors that
A S THE COUNTRY CELEBRATES its 75th year of Independence, there was not significantly affected by the pan-
is much cause for cheer for India has not only displayed resilience in demic. The government continued its
the face of an ongoing pandemic but also demonstrated great leader- efforts to reform the sector and all the
ship in charting the path ahead for economic expansion with a firm reforms are expected to yield some fruit-
focus on sustainability. India took centre-stage by not just helming the ful results starting 2022.
world’s largest vaccination drive but also being a facilitator for several other nations,
further growing its influence on the world stage. The aviation sector has a high synergy
with the defence sector in terms of ca-
In 2020, India witnessed a challenged economy due to pabilities and competencies required
factors outside of her control, registering a significant for manufacturing. While this sector
contraction of 7.5 per cent in its GDP. Though al- was among the hardest hit during the
most all countries observed contraction in their pandemic, it is expected to bounce back
respective GDPs, India stood out in terms of strongly in 2022, for India remains the
its resilience and the ability to bounce back. fastest growing aviation market across
The economy rebounded within a year the globe. Reports suggest that India has
and showed a prompt recovery with a become the third largest domestic avia-
forecast of 10 per cent GDP growth in tion market in the world and is expected
the current year. The forecasts for near
future also look promising where most to overtake UK to become the third
of the leading institutions pointing to largest air passenger market by
a GDP growth of ~8 per cent per year. 2024. With increased impe-
tus on investments across
Focus on Make in India creating infrastructure
In order to maintain the momentum of and encouraging new
growth, it will be imperative to focus on sig- entrants into the mar-
nificantly increasing the scale of the manufac- ket, the sector is well-
turing sector from its current share of 17 per cent poised for growth and
to the overall GDP. The government has also set an development despite
aspirational target of achieving a 25 per cent share from the its rocky last couple of
manufacturing sector. In order to achieve this, the sector in India needs to change years. The launch of new
from a build-to-print destination to a technologically advanced and automated and rechristened airlines
manufacturing destination. There is significant opportunity for India to use the tech- in India points towards an
nology advantages that global players bring to ‘Create in India,’ with India co-owning optimistic and productive
the Intellectual Property (IP) in areas of strategic national importance. Creating in year for the aviation sector.
India in collaboration with global players will catapult India’s vision to create a strong The Airports Authority of In-
ecosystem and commercialize production locally, and to use this base to boost global
supply chain and export capabilities. dia (AAI) is expected to further drive
this growth by investing Rs 25,000
The defence sector, for example, can be the one of many sectors where such a crore ($3.3 billion) over the next five
model can be followed. The co-development for the defence sector will not be just years for expansion and modification
technology transfers or just manufacturing but enabling an ecosystem that will of existing terminals, new terminals,
include co-design, co-development and co-manufacturing, supply chain and sup- expansion or strengthening of existing
runways, aprons, Airport Navigation
Services (ANS), control towers, tech-
nical blocks, etc. This mix of fresh in-
vestments, infrastructure development
and market potential signal a renewed
sector that will grow fast and open up
significant opportunities for India’s rich
talent pool.
46 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
YEAR AHEAD WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2022
Services Exports: (RODTEP) from 1st January 2021 and
On a High Growth Trajectory also the Production Linked Incentive
Scheme (PLI) for several manufactur-
By Sunil H. Talati, Chairman, SEPC ing sectors. RoDTEP is a combination
of the current Merchandise Export
SERVICES REMAIN the fastest growing from India Scheme (MEIS) and Rebate
sector of the Indian economy with of State and Central Taxes and Levies
immense potential. Despite (RoSCTL). However, there is only one
the pandemic it is the only incentive scheme SEIS for service ex-
sector which has showed porters which the government is plan-
ning to scrap and replace it with an al-
resilience and experienced a negative ternative. SEPC has already proposed
the alternative schemes to SEIS called
growth of only 3 per cent from $213 DRESS (Duty Remission on Export of
Services Scheme). Unless the govern-
billion in 2019-20 to $206 billion
ment focuses on the services sector
in 2020-21. In fact, the services in the forthcoming Foreign Trade
Policy (FTP) by announcing
sector has shown a rebound in scheme-based export incen-
tives and provides interim
2021. In the first seven months relief by continuing with
the existing schemes in
of 2021 alone, services exports the short run, the sector
will take a long time to
havetouched $133 billion with a revive.
growth rate of nearly 20 per cent. The way forward
Current FY is already
In October 2021, services exports seeing the highest services
exports ever despite curbs
stood at $19.86 billion, exhibiting on many services sectors such
as tourism, medical value travel,
a positive growth of 19.78 per cent education and aviation, etc. Once
these restrictions are further eased,
compared to October 2020 ($16.59 services exports from India have huge
untapped potential. Services sectors
billion). contribute almost half of the country’s
GDP which clearly indicates that servic-
Under the existing Foreign Trade Policy es may have 50 per cent share in exports
from India which stands at 41 per cent
(FTP), the only specific incentive to the ser- today (2020-21).
Recognising the importance of
vices sector is SEIS. Government of India had intro- services exports in India’s economy,
the Ministry of Commerce has set a
duced the Service Exports from India Scheme (SEIS) under the Foreign target of $1 trillion of services exports
by 2030. To enable achieve this target
Trade Policy (FTP) 2015-20, replacing the earlier scheme ‘Served from India and give the same level of importance
to the services sector, the Department
Scheme’ (SFIS) under Foreign Trade Policy 2009-15. SEIS is important because of Commerce has set up a dedicated
EP (Services) division. A few meet-
it not only makes Indian services exports globally competitive in terms of price ings have already taken place to chalk
out a plan of action for the services
but also in the present scenario, SEIS would help the sector recover better after sector.
the pandemic and secure retention of workforce. SEIS has helped firms to expand
their businesses thereby creating more job opportunities. It must be noted that the
government has already announced a slew of schemes like RODTEP and PLI for
the manufacturing sector whereas the services sector exporters are still uncertain
about any specific schemes.
The need of the hour is a level playing field with manufacturing and incentives
and support to tide over the pandemic. It is high time that a change in perception
towards services becomes equally important as manufacturing gains ground. In
fact, services are a major source of employment along with manufacturing. Servic-
es exports lead directly to employment of approximately 2.6 crore people in India.
For instance, the government gives several export incentives to the manu-
facturing sector including MEIS (which was found to be not compliant with
WTO) and replaced with Remission of Duties and Taxes on Exported Products
47 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
YEAR AHEAD WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2022
HOUSING & INFRASTRUCTURE
Faster, Efficient,
Construction All Around
Despite the second wave of corona virus severely
denting the economy, construction activities picked up across
housing, commercial and mega infrastructure projects. This trend
is expected to dominate 2022 as well. By ASHISH SINHA
HOPE OF A BETTER TOMORROW never seems Going ahead, the average age-profile of homebuyers is
to leave those involved in the construction expected to go down, i.e., young homebuyers will become
and real estate sector. That may perhaps ex- the new norm and this would translate into better and mod-
plain why the industry thinks that 2021 was ern design for all stakeholders. It is widely expected that
not “that bad” a year, be it housing, commer- the new-age homebuyers will be skewed towards a well-
cial real estate or mega infrastructure projects. balanced holistic lifestyle that facilitates a walk-to-work
Data would suggest that the residential housing category trend. Thus, commercial real estate will witness demand for
indeed bounced back in 2021 with sales of 2.37 lakh units dispersed portfolio with hub and spoke model in peripheral
-- 65 per cent of this was in the affordable and mid-segment twin cities and suburbs. The slew of mega infrastructure
category. This amounted to almost 90 per cent of pre-Covid being developed will be a game-changer in creating new
sales in a calendar year. Mumbai and Delhi regions ac- linkages that shall redefine the real estate landscape in the
counted for nearly half the sales or 1.16 lakh units begging emerging live-wire centres. Hence, we will see the ‘rise of
the question: what about sales in other metros, towns, state- suburbia’ -- a series of new micro-markets across India.
capitals? In order to further popularise REIT or Real Estate Invest-
According to Anuj Puri, Chairman, ANAROCK Group, ment Trust and to make the market more accessible to small
a leading property consultancy firm, Q4 2021 was by far and retail investors, the Securities and Exchange Board
the best quarter, with housing sales in the top seven cities of India lowered the minimum application value from Rs
attaining a new high of around 90,860 units. This was the 50,000 to Rs 10,000-15,000.
highest quarterly sales performance since 2015, Puri said. According to the data released by the Department for
After more than 20-months of living and coping with the Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade Policy (DPIIT),
coronavirus, experts predict certain distinct construction is the third-largest sector in
changes in consumer behaviour with regard It is widely terms of FDI inflow. FDI in the sector stood
to housing, work and community. The “new expected that the at $51.5 billion between April 2000 and June
normal” is expected to evolve with a ‘bigger new-age home- 2021. Between January and September 2021,
the better’ mindset. Experts say that work- private equity investment inflows into the real
ing near home may become the new fulcrum buyers will be estate sector in India stood at $3.3 billion.
for home-buying decisions going forward. In skewed towards
Ecommerce, IT firms, startups (unicorns)
2022 and beyond, new innovations in design, a well-balanced in cities like Bangalore, Hyderabad, and Chen-
planning and amenities deliverables would holistic lifestyle that nai are expected to be the key contributors
become a norm and a mandatory require- facilitates a walk- in demand for residential and commercial
ment rather than luxury because of the de- segments. These will also be among the most
manding modern homebuyers. to-work trend preferred markets for NRI investors. With an
48 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
increasingnumberofbuyersoptingforbetter With the govern- third-largest market for construction across
affordability and connectivity, well-connected ment looking to the globe. With the government looking to
regions (especially peripheral areas) will likely boost the construc- boost the segment and a notable inflow of
witness a rise in property prices. tion segment, this FDI (13 per cent of the total share in FY21),
industry will be one this industry will be one of the drivers of eco-
Infrastructure push nomic growth over the upcoming quarters.
The year gone-by also saw a massive push of the drivers of The sector is ready to take advantage of the
to infrastructure projects including roads, economic growth surge in economic activity. Therefore, data
highways, expressways, bridges, freight cor- over the upcoming centres and warehouses will continue to re-
ridor, metro lines, and revamping of airports ceive attention in the year to come.
all around the country. In this backdrop, the quarters
With the goal of improving the efficiency
National Infrastructure Pipeline becomes a of urban freight and lowering logistics ex-
key initiative. It envisages a combined investment of over penses, the logistics division under the Commerce Min-
Rs 100 lakh crore till 2025 with a focus on projects across istry has put forth plans for ‘Freight Smart Cities’. Over
sectors like energy, roads, urban and railways. In the Union the next 10 years, demand for urban freight is predicted
Budget last year, the government outlined a massive push to increase by 140 per cent. Last-mile freight transit in
to the infrastructure sector by allocating Rs 233,083 crore Indian cities accounts for 50 per cent of the total logistics
to enhance the transport infrastructure. The government expenditures in the country’s increasing ecommerce sup-
expanded the National Infrastructure Pipeline to 7,400 ply chains.
projects. Around 217 projects worth Rs 1.10 lakh crore were All the key market forces point towards strong sector
completed as of 2020. growth; most realty stocks are witnessing a bullish market
As a part of the GatiShakti National Master Plan, the cycle and outperforming their peers. Experts anticipate the
government is planning to launch geospatial digital plat- ‘Bull Run’ to continue in 2022. The positive market outlook
form to facilitate planning and monitoring of projects and increasing market consolidation signal the industry’s
ranging from telecom networks, gas pipelines to road ever-growing stakeholder trust.
and railways.
According to IBEF, by 2022, India will become the [email protected]; @Ashish_BW
Photograph by Indiapicturebudget 49 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
YEAR AHEAD WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2022
Future-Ready
Smart People Flow
By Amit Gossain Managing Director KONE Elevators India
W EHAVEALLWITNESSEDhowtechnologyhasevolvedoverthelast Advanced
decade, and how the pandemic has speeded up the adoption of technologies
digital technologies by several years. The adoption or application are helping
of technology has not only increased the efficiency for industries develop
but also the day-to-day activities of human movement. custom
In a similar way, the elevator industry has also seen some innovative transforma- double-deck
tions that are not only practical but also sustainable in nature. These innovations are elevators
restructuring the way elevators operate in buildings for more personalised experi- cabs to
ences especially in a post-pandemic world. From AI and touchless tech to compact increase
and energy efficient motors with built-in control circuitry, the elevator industry is elevator space
getting all geared up towards being future-ready. efficiency”
Touchless Tech
While the pandemic may have accelerated the use of touchless tech in various in-
dustries, a majority initially were implemented as a stopgap measure. Initially most
elevators would employ simple proximity sensors, which while being an innovative
solution two years ago were not very efficient. These days this technology has evolved
and we see cameras that can detect gestures with far more efficiency from a greater
distance. This ensures that the elevators are activated only when required and not
like a door at a convenient store thereby increasing efficiency. Touchless interfaces
can handle complex interactions such as selecting multiple floors and are easy and
intuitive to use. Few players are using voice-activated technology and such advance-
ments would completely nullify the need to touchpads or buttons.
Smart Elevators
In an ever-evolving technological landscape, we are witnessing a rise in expectations
and demands from the way we go about our day-to-day lives. Elevators these days
such as smart lifts are equipped with smart systems that will guide users to their
destinations in the fastest and most efficient manner, which can be especially handy
during high traffic hours. These elevators are also equipped with cloud connectivity
that allows technicians to understand the wear and tear of parts before it reaches
the breakdown phase. These can be detected early and fixed in order to stop the lift
from facing any further damage.
Analytics & AI elevators
Artificial intelligence is something that is increasingly being woven into every facet
50 | BW BUSINESSWORLD | 12-25 January 2022
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