Covid resilience headlines ET Awards | Economic Times

How do you survive a world that has changed forever? What do you pin your hopes on when the old patina of comfort wears off? As India vaccinates millions to counter the pandemic amid a second wave, the bets are on companies that have weathered the storm, businesses that have reorganised to raise productivity, CEOs who can lead beyond the line of sight, and a government that changes its narrative from protectionism to reform.When some of the best minds of India Inc and financial markets pondered over the new realities with finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman on the occasion to honour the winners of The Economic Times Awards for Corporate Excellence, it was evident that the long road ahead would require bringing back labourers who have gone home, luring big, patient money into infrastructure, financing facilities that support farming, fine-tuning the monetary policy, overcoming the hurdles before privatisation while honouring workers’ rights in businesses that pass into private hands and covering millions among the workforce and the self-employed with a new pension plan.81624108Realistic growth trendBut while India with its manufacturing base, demographics, a prudent Budget, and large forex reserves — to counter the gale of another taper-tantrum — may be better placed than other countries to navigate that path, it’s time to accept, some feel, that the world has to live with a growth lower than the boom years of 2000s and productivity has dipped with most innovations confined to developing apps on handsets.“India continuously disappoints the optimists and pessimists. IMF has forecast a huge bounce-back with a 11.5% growth for India in FY22… But we must be careful about these funny numbers. What matters is the growth over the next decade…India has to think what is realistically possible. The trend growth rate could be 5% and could cross 5% if there is acceleration in economic reforms,” said Ruchir Sharma, chief global strategist at Morgan Stanley. “There is high liquidity with 20% of the total dollars (in circulation) printed last year… This liquidity is going after financial assets. It may be a great time to be a financial investor but gains to real are low,” said Sharma at this year’s virtual ceremony, which was webcast and telecast on Saturday evening.Safety Net“Innovations have been more on consumer-facing sides and in areas like entertainment and less on increasing business productivity. Hopefully, productivity will increase due to the pandemic as everyone is reorganising the workforce,” he said.The surge in the stock market has lessened the gloom for some, and leaner corporates recording higher profits have stoked expectations of a multiplier effect. While companies slashed costs, the Indian government — unlike those of developed economies with reserve currency and greater resources — emphasised reforms over spending.Sensing the opposition that privatisation sparks, Sitharaman said, “I hope to engage with all those who have any kind of reservations on this… My privatisation is not something which would end up selling for closure... But I can’t run it efficiently because I don’t have the money to invest at that scale... I need to be accountable to the taxpayers’ money... I will ensure that the rights of the workers, the perquisites of the workers, and all the commitments made by the government for the workers at various levels and categories are ensured.”At the CEO panel discussion conducted during the ceremony, Vibha Padalkar, MD & CEO of HDFC Life, said that since a large portion of the workforce has no assured pension and pension as percentage of GDP is less than 5%, some structural changes are needed to encourage people to set aside some money for pension.jobs Vs InflationIn creating more jobs, L&T MD SN Subrahmanyan said, businesses have to offer “fair wages” to bring back millions who have gone back in order to carry out work on roads, ports, and other infra projects — and, “if that means inflation, we have to live with it”. The creeping inflation, buoyed by food and oil prices, is fanning fears that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) may increase interest rates. “Oil is touching $70 and there is a commodity super cycle… It will be inflationary and we have to take it in our stride… But I hope the government does not come heavy on controlling inflation by restricting growth,” said JSW Group chairman Sajjan Jindal, who was one of the panelists.The debate has cropped up at a point when the 2-6% inflation band followed by the Monetary Policy Committee is under review. Despite a nervous and impatient bond market, RBI has so far managed to keep the interest rates steady. Accepting the award for ‘Reformer of the Year’, Governor Shaktikanta Das reiterated that it would be the central bank’s endeavour "to continue to be proactive in supporting growth while maintaining price stability and financial stability".Old-new synergyWith Covid-19 highlighting the importance of digital and online activity, the synergies unfolding between the old and new economies would have to play out to improve growth and productivity. “Hundred per cent pincodes in India shop online… and businesses are embracing technology to target specific needs. During Covid, 1.5 lakh businesses came online; 50,000 of them came online using non-English language, and more than 70,000 of them have become exporters. They have created global brands and exports through these brands have exceeded $2 billion,” said Amit Agarwal, country head, Amazon India.Covid has also raised the social awareness for sustainable mobility and energy, said Bhavish Aggarwal, CEO of Ola, which is planning a global scale electric mobility business out of India, using Indian R&D, which would initially target the two-wheeler market. He felt Indian companies should focus on the technology of the future – not just partnership with global companies but doing the R&D in India.