NEW DELHI: The NITI Aayog, India’s premier policy think tank, has suggested the formation of an inter-ministerial group to deal with “future shocks”, besides a slew of measures to “fireball” the economy.
Its plans are aggressive in the Age of Brexit and the Time of Trump—the formation of an Indian global financial capital aka London, the creation of the country’s own Silicon valley, toppling Britain’s status as a global education hub and persuading industrial and technological giants abroad to shift base to India.
The agency’s report suggests the direction the Narendra Modi government can take to meet the challenges of “disruptions” in the global economy, which may fuel recession in emerging economies. It takes into account negative business sentiment across the globe, decline of investment and fall in jobs due to inward-looking policies by governments in the US, the UK and Europe.
The NITI Aayog has proposed an inter-ministerial group (IMG) to face the economic whiplash of the protectionist policies of the UK and the US. The report suggests how India can deal with “future shocks”, “...as higher protectionist tendencies are observed in EU countries, negative business sentiment across the world, coupled with falling confidence could lead companies to pull back investment and job creation thus plunging the already embattled global economy back into another recession,” it notes, adding “India’s interconnectedness with the world will lead to reduced investments and multinationals with Indian origin will be severely hit; India’s domestic sector demand will be the only source of stability”.
“An Inter-Ministerial Group (IMG) should be constituted within the government, preferably within the NITI Aayog, drawing officials from strategic ministries to closely monitor Brexit related development. The IMG could also consider initiatives to develop capabilities for dealing with similar future shocks,” the report notes.
The paper also notes that the UK will become a costlier education destination, which presents an opportunity to India. “A three-tiered academic structure needs to be developed, comprising highly selective elite research universities (for developing intellectual capital), comprehensive varsities and specialised institutions and an array of highly accessible and high-quality colleges. “Entry barriers for foreign educational institutions to set up campuses in India should be removed to attract students from developed and developing countries,” the report adds.
The report also advocates the government to begin inception of India’s own ‘Silicon Valley’ in the next five years by ensuring engineering institutes develop specialised courses on advanced technologies, with private organisations with strong R&D capabilities supporting the innovation eco-system.
The NITI Aayog report stresses on India becoming the world’s skill capital for which, it stated that the decision to “benchmark transnational skill standards to the UK across 82 identified job roles would increase the international mobility of Indian workforce”.
The report called upon the Indian government to address issues of “access to credit, ease of paying taxes, protecting minority investors, registering property, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving insolvency”.