Shift focus to local market,firms told

He called on all companies to prepare a vision for the next twenty to thirty years. Cautioning Indian companies to avoid the “middle income trap”,he said they must focus on their social responsibilities,become globally competitive and innovate and transform themselves into globally responsible citizens.

Shivram said if Indian companies did not innovate or design products for Indian consumers,in their stead Multi National Companies (MNCs) would do it for them and capture the market. “Global companies will use India as a test base,price the products for the Indian market,and then export it to other countries. Eventually,not only will our industries lose the local market,they will lose the export market as well,if they do not invest in innovation’ he said.

He said industry must intensify efforts to reduce social disparity and build social cohesion. “If we want to grow at 9 per cent,it is imperative that industries focus on building social cohesion in the society,” he said. Shivram laid emphasis on global responsibility and our impact on the environment. He said companies are working on developing an index to measure each individual’s “green rating”. He said that if India has to be a responsible country,it would have to develop a “responsible global culture”. “Now we are able to escape,but in future we will all be penalised if our green rating falls below the optimum,” he said. As an example,he said financial institutions may not sanction loans if the green rating is poor.