Build India as a brand

India offers the largest consumer market in the world. The resources of the country too are large and unexploited. Despite these credalials, its startling to admit that India as a brand has so far not been able to a project itself as infallible. The potential of growth is unlimited but ironically, the investors have shifted their focus away from India.

Ironically, the factors which have led to this have been largely neglected till now. Foremost among these is the bureaucratic and political delay to clearing projects – the rep tapism of the system. What to speak of foreign investors, even Indian tycoons like Tata have fallen prey to it. The recent example is the withdrawal of the airline projects, which tells its own nefarious story. The brain drain to other nations also adds to the woes. It is a shame that our countrymen have to migrate to other nations in the lure of money and better facilities.

In modern India, there’s nothing left which our country cannot provide. The vacuum caused by the drain, however, takes its toll, and hampers the development of India as a brand.Efforts have to be both from the grassroot level and by the national leadership. The custodians of the Constitution must make policies flexible to enable investment. One must rise above personel bargains and enable India as a whole to fourish. Mere masquerading on the positions of power will serve no good. We all must come out of cocoons and realize that every step we take has a direct bearing on the nation. The pledge has to be within. And finally when the heads, hearts and hands of all Indians join, none can stop it from becoming the India of our dreams – India the brand.

“India is much better than its image,” feels Percy Barnevik, co-chairman of the World Economic Forum. Things have definitely changed for better following economic liberalisation. Yet there has been a dramatic slump in the quantum of foreign direct investments in the last six months. From a projected 6 billion US dollar inflow, we are likely to close the year with foreign investment accruals of a mere 2 billion US dollar plus. In addition to political instability and economic crisis, the basic problem remains the poor image of the brand called India. It is shocking to note that small economies like Poland and Estonia fare better, while China gets 20 times more foreign capital every year.

For long, we have followed the industrial policy of `Survival of the Weakest.’ As a consequence, Indian goods are unable to compete in the foreign markets.Things are no better in the service sector. The foreign tourists, for instance, don’t get value for money. The bureaucratic red-tapism and complex business laws too makes things difficult for foreign businessmen.

Instead of helping matters, some senior ministers have issued statements regarding foreign companies in India. A noted economic analyst settled abroad says, “Every time some Indian minister issues a statement threatening MNCs, the foreign investors shift a couple of good projects meant for India to China.”

If the foreign investors make money by actively promoting their businesses, we too gain by way of more jobs and better trade knowledge, earning valuable exposure through competition with world-class companies. A rigid approach, negative attitude and inflexible business policies and systems will seriously harm the brand image of the nation. It would be a great loss to our country indeed.

Liberalisation has arrived in India, whether it’s the decisive policy boost to the infotech industry, especially software export, the delicensing of the sugar industry, or the decision to join the Paris Convention, 1967, for the protection of intellectual property rights.

But are these bold initiatives enough to sell India as a global brand ? No. We still send out the wrong signals. Swadeshi politics, MNC product bashing, inadequate diplomacy after Pokhran-II, red-tape and bureaucracy bottlenecks, government’s inability to action reforms because of Parliament dilly dallying, weak infrastructure(roads, electricity), communal sensitivity, all have confirmed the skepticism of critics.

Foreign investors are disillusioned due to the Asian crisis and are reluctant to make fresh investments in India. Consequently, foreign investment is declining. Country’s share in global exports has been virtually stagnant, and non-tariff barriers such as quality control and labour standards threaten to mar the future of Indian exports. Worse, India seems to have opened up its markets by lowering tariffs much ahead of committed schedules because of previous overzealous governments. This wasn’t even preceded by adequate policy reforms to enable Indian industry to complete or by effective anti-dumping mechanisms. The rupee is on a slide.

Worse, the Indian economy has to contend with unstable governance. While many countries go through political hassles, the maturity of these economies ensures that broad economic policies and consensus stay unchanged. Political uncertainty here has slowed down the reform pace and influenced investment decisions of both domestic and foreign investors.

International agencies have recently downgraded India’s credit assessment. It’s a vulnerable economy with lowered tariff barriers, largely non-competitive businesses, bloated government spending, subsidies and critical policies held up in a wide range of areas. Therefore, the foreign investors’ perception of India today is extremely important. India needs to display maturity and seriousness. For instance, the banking civil aviation, telecom, housing, and real estate sectors could be opened up for foreign investmentand more privatisation. Most importantly we need sound policies and good, selfless governance with efficient bureaucracy, to be a true global competitors.