India Will Emerge Influential And Confident By 2047, But 'Linear Extrapolation' About It Won’t Help: Ram Charan

Exclusive interview: Management guru Ram Charan has some ‘get real’ advice for India and its businesses.

File photo of management guru and author Ram Charan at a business summit in Madrid, Spain, in 2015.

Source : Getty

Mumbai: Management guru Dr Ram Charan believes India will emerge influential and confident by 2047, but "linear extrapolation" about its growth is not going to do good. Stop dreaming, start doing, and get real — this is what is his action agenda. Speaking to ABP Live, the top advisor to global CEOs said gaining energy independence and achieving technological prowess were going to be key pillars but would have to handle China. Ram Charan said he was extremely happy with who he called the “three brains behind India's economic management” — the prime minister, the RBI governor and the finance minister. 

The Harvard researcher, who has advised 12 top billionaires in the world, including Kumar Mangalam Birla and the late Jack Welch, for their businesses and organisations, was in India to speak about his new book, Leading Through Inflation: And Recession And Stagflation. 

"We need certain minerals, we need the energy equation. We are partly okay in food. We need to build more services, we need more technology strength. We can lead. See, the key point is a nation is heavily driven by the leaders. We have a history. Previous to BJP, we had two terms of the UPA government. One term was reasonably well, but the second term was terrible. Now we have Mr Modi continuing and the succession. I have no doubt that we can grow 7-8 percent per annum and then we can see a reversal of currency devaluation. They have done it in Singapore and Switzerland and other places earlier. We know how to do it. I can see three people — the PM, the governor (RBI), the finance minister. I honestly believe they know how to do that," said Ram Charan, who is the author of best selling management books like Execution and What Your CEO Wants You To Know. 

He, however, also warned about “linear extrapolation”, described in loose words as day-dreaming or top-up planning, as he said it does not do any good.

“You should ask what differently do I do now? Otherwise, there is a lot of nonsense. You need to have energy independence. You need to be among the top three in technology. Government can build the building blocks and ask private guys to take it forward. I used to see it at some institutes in the 1960s-70s. There was extrapolation of linear trends, but that won’t do anything." 

‘Growing Influence In Global South’

Ram Charan said he was seeing a growing influence of India in the global south, but is concerned about America-China tension and its impact on India.

"Economic influence of the global south is going to happen. I see Mr Modi will be much more of a participant in the global theatre. I can see that. We got to talk on the next 3 or 4 or 5 years that will lead us to 2047. And we have this global south that we can lead. We can do that. Yes. But I don’t know what China will do. You got to project them (watch them on what they can do).  So we have a silent war with China and that needs to be taken into account; and what China-American tensions might do," added Ram Charan. 

Asked specifically about where he sees India in 2047, the business guru said: "India will be more confident. Why? Because of people and the best learning society in the world. That will continue. That gives you confidence. Number two, probably it will be in the top three in the technology usage development and technology generation as we go forward. Because technology is at the centre of economic growth of a nation. It will have alliances. It will have a trade zone of its own, it has begun now with its own Rupee driven trade. India will be highly respected and people will come here. But there will be countries who will impede our growth, (and) that has to be managed."