: “The conventional thought was that exports of goods, manufacturing and large number of jobs generated by big industries drive economic growth as they have done for South Korea and China. However, in India economic growth will come from domestic consumption, services and a large number of small businesses generating employment,” said Nandan Nilekani, co-founder of Infosys and former chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India.
In his lecture on ‘An alternative view of the future’ at Madras School of Economics in Chennai on Friday, he said the conventional model of involving manufacture of merchandise for the export market, employing tens of thousands of workers will no longer be feasible in the current global context. “Around the world, globalisation is under increasing attack and this is compounded with calls for insulating the domestic businesses from overseas competition,” he said.
He said that the huge verifiable data made possible by the Aadhaar card will power economic growth in India. “A unique ID card issued to over 1.4 billion people and the financial inclusion through Jan Dhan Yojana bank accounts and the smart phones which help in secure online transactions will enable India’s economic growth,” he said.
Stating that conventional manufacturing-led export is coming up against a technology-driven, capital intensive trend, he said that India might find it difficult to adopt a new model. “In contrast, service sector offers immense opportunities for growth. With a young population, India will be able to generate more jobs in outsourcing,” he said.
