According to a top venture capitalist, entrepreneur and philanthropist, Mr. M R Rangaswami, the period of the next 10 years is going to be a "golden moment" for India, in the crucial sectors of technology, pharmaceuticals, e-commerce, manufacturing etc. Pointing the whopping USD 20 billion Foreign Direct Investment that India saw amidst the COVID-19 outbreak, the Silicon Valley venture capitalist said that even with the outbreak sweeping the world, specially USA and India, the FDI that India received is mind-boggling.
The coronavirus outbreak has affected more than 6 lakh lives in the world, and has affected business and economies in a way never seen before.
Rangaswami says that the next 10 years is the time when India will shine. It will make use of digital technology- be it medicine, telecommunication, e-commerce, logistics, or even kirana (grocery) stores- in every sector of its industry. India must seize this golden opportunity to develop each and every sector, to go completely digital.
In post-COVID India, the massive FDI it received was unprecedented. Most prominent investments made include USD 10 billion from Google, USD 5.7 billion from Facebook, USD 1.2 billion from Walmart and USD 1 billion from Foxconn.
It has been speculated that there will be many more deals this year, i.e. 2020-21. A lot of other companies with huge investments will be coming to India.
Amazon has been investing majorly in India, and will keep on doing the same. Other companies, private equity funds, sovereign funds, and many others are also looking at making investments in India. It seems like India is a hot destination for investments right now. Rangaswami also noted that due to the anti-China sentiment in the USA, India is able to bag huge investments.
US-China relations have gone downhill, because of the former accusing China of mishandling the pandemic. This has given an opportunity to India to become an economic game-changer. Smartphone users in India cross 500 million, or even a billion. With the pandemic, the country going digital has taken digital transactions far through the roof.
The entire business ecosystem of India is adopting new technologies like never seen before. It not only provides easy solutions to businesses, but is a whole separate market in itself.
According to the top venture capitalist, India needs to clear out all previous impediments to businesses, so as to immediately ensure smooth sailing for all parties. The government must take charge now, and get the greatest leaders, bureaucrats, start-ups, and technologies together. It needs to lay down the rules, regulations and the roadmap so that everyone in the country is led towards a common goal.
