The Republic Media Network saw the successful culmination of the third edition of the Republic Summit, held in a span of two days, 25th and 26th April at Hotel Taj Palace, New Delhi. The theme of this year’s summit with its power-packed line of speakers from the worlds of business and politics was ‘Time of Transformation’. The event kickstarted on 25th April with Republic TV’s Editor-in-Chief, Arnab Goswami, addressing the gathering.
Starting off with the line of speakers of the event, the first session was hosted by Arnab Goswami and Abhishek Kapoor, the speaker being Piyush Goyal, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry, Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution, and Textiles. Focusing on the theme of ‘transformation’, Goyal said that the journey ahead for India is transformational and Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam is the core of this time of transformation.
“I see an India by 2047 with a US$ 35-40 trillion economy”, he stated. He further said that the aspiration for a better life quality has been the story of India in the last 9 years under the leadership of PM Modi, who has seen India as one nation, without any discrimination or ‘bhed bhaav’. Particularly focusing on less developed regions of the country. Touching upon the role of India’s trade with foreign countries and manufacturing, Goyal said that India’s huge amounts of imports from China during the previous UPA regime completely killed the country’s manufacturing sector.
But now, he mentioned, the world wants to work with India primarily because of its dynamic population, and an iconic leadership presented by the Prime Minister. On being asked about how India is approaching at balancing the global trade balance, the Union Minister answered that trade diplomacy involves a lot of give and take and negotiations, with each country involved protecting its own interests, and therefore, India aims at mature discussions between both countries as we see merit in the same.
Next in line was Dr Jitendra Singh, Minister of State for the Ministry of Science and Technology, Minister of State for the Ministry of Earth Science, Minister of State for Prime Minister’s Office: Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions, Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space. Talking about India’s transformation, he said that the best way to appreciate the 9 years under Modi is to look back at the India before 2014, after which the country has undergone a journey of optimism from pessimism.
He added that PM Modi has given a sustainable governance model, and tremendous focus has been laid by the Modi model on development of all regions of the country. “We did not waste our time thinking ‘Kisko dena hai aur kisko nahi’, asserted Singh.
This was followed by a session with Admiral R. Hari Kumar, PVSM, AVSM, VSM, ADC, Chief of the Naval Staff, who said, highlighting the importance of conquering the oceans, that while we have an ancient linkage with the ocean, whenever India forgot about the seas, we lost our independence and prosperity. Related to this, he also said that ship-building in India has got the ability to generate more employment, income and business, and therefore, the Navy is reaching out to connect more youth to spread the message of consciousness about the sea.
Next to speak was Jyotiraditya Scindia, Union Minister of Civil Aviation and Steel, who, when asked about what difference he feels to be there between the earlier regime and that of now, as an ex-Congressman, replied that India has had a very long history of a robust economy, adding, “Samay ka ek chakra hota hai, aur har des huss vidhi ke vidhaan mein apna karya karta hai”, and hence, every country sees ups and downs in its journey, just like India did.
He mentioned that while the UPA regime was the ‘low’ for India, the current NDA regime is the ‘high’. Further, he said that India has also not been a stranger to civil aviation, but this strength of India had been forgotten earlier, which is now being revived by PM Modi on our path of the Amrit Kaal and towards the Shatabdi Kaal. “PM Modi looks at execution capability and hence, shows restraint at reducing schemes of freebies, this approach has led to the democratization of civil aviation in the last 9 years”, asserted Scindia.
He mentioned that earlier, civil aviation was an elitist service, and while back in 2013-14, 60 million people travelled by air, today, 144 million do, which is more than double. Civil aviation has grown with a CAGR of 10.3 percent, and in the last 9 years, 74 airports and helipads have been constructed across the country, with the aim of taking this number beyond 200 in the next 5 years.
Talking about the past wherein the ministry was linked with a number of scams, Jyotiraditya said that Congress drives with eyes on the rear-view mirror, but he looks forward and upwards. He added that while there have been many scams in the past, it is important to look at today and at the future, which is indeed very bright.
Moving the event from the transformation in the eyes of the politicians to that of the economists, next was Uday Kotak, CEO, Kotak Mahindra Bank, who stated that by 2047, India can be an economy larger than that of US$ 25 trillion, and that till that feat is reached, he hopes that the Indian rupee becomes a stable currency. Talking about the scope of development and further transformation in the financial sector, he said that India needs significant capacity-building in the same, and for which, we have to both grow and manage the problems which are witnessed in the meanwhile.
Kotak added that the power India needs is to sell more than buying, as the imports are currently more than the exports, leading to a trade deficit. Touching upon competing with others, he mentioned the mantra of thinking of the market: “Whenever you think of the market, do not think of winners or losers, but of consequences. Talking about the goal for India for the next 10 years, he stated that he would like an average growth of 8 percent to reach US$ 8-9 trillion economy, and by 2035, India should mark a double-digit GDP.
Taking the event forward, Air Chief Marshal VR Chaudhari, during his session, said that he is confident that in the coming 25 years, the whole nation will be tech-savvy, and when our nation will complete 100 years of independence, it will be a very different India. He added that currently too, our economic progress and development have put us in the centre stage of the world, and in order to execute future battles well too, joint planning and execution are important.
Sridhar Vembu, CEO and Co-Founder, Zoho Corporation, said that our civilizational strength is out biggest strength to transform, and this is existent in rural India, where you are safe, even without a police force.
Talking about the transformation of India, next was Bhupender Yadav, Union Minister for Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and Labour and Employment, said that transformation not only means changing superficially, but a change from within, and if we talk about transformation in India in the last 9 years, one of the main traits of the same has been last-man delivery, and true transformation needs a similar visionary approach, as showcased by PM Modi.
Further, speaking at the event was the Union Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, who said that in order to make India a developed country by 2047, the government will focus on 3 key aspects, first, that India will be an AI hub, second being skilling as our youth need skills to be ready for industry 4.0, and thirdly, the digitalization of various industries like education and banking for the ease of service.
She also stated how it was the people of India who drive the transformation of the country. For instance, during the pandemic, no country had a template to follow, and lockdown was the only solution, and there was no formula to handle the economy, but the people of India showed what they were capable of!
The event was also attended by Spiritual Guru Sri Sri Ravi Shankar, Founder, Art of Living, who, focusing on transformation, said that change is the order of the world, and if something is stagnant, it means that not everything is right there. And change towards the better is called transformation which brings along physical, mental, spiritual, and emotional comfort for people.
Other dignitaries who spoke at the event included Chief of Army Staff, General Manoj Pande, Chandrababu Naidu, AS Rajgopal, Sudhanshu Mani, Suhel Seth, Ashutosh Raghuvanshi, and former hockey captain Rani Rampal, and a video message from UP CM Yogi Adityanath.
