The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) hosted a Flagship Seminar for the Book Launch – The Struggle and The Promise: Restoring India’s Potential by Naushad Forbes.

India has the potential to lead the world, thanks to what it now has—a diverse culture with something for everyone, a young population thirsty for education and achievement, and a strong and diverse private sector. Much must change to achieve India’s potential: it must target rapid economic growth as a collective goal; invest in innovation, design, education and research; build independent institutions step by step; and harness its diverse culture.

The book tries to answer some critical questions concerning India’s progress: How can the government, citizens and firms turn our struggle into the promise and enable India to lead? How can we fix things by learning from best practices elsewhere? How can we ensure openness, inclusivity and innovation? How can independent institutions make up for low state capacity? How can our culture deliver leadership? The Struggle and The Promise provides a logical, actionable blueprint for getting the balance right between industry, institutions and policy.

Register here: https://us06web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_-_GklVLTR42ITENBK_jQhA

About the author:

• Naushad Forbes is co-chairman of Forbes Marshall, India’s leading steam engineering and control instrumentation firm. Dr Forbes is also chairman of Ananta Aspen Centre and Centre for Technology, Innovation and Economic Research (CTIER). He was the president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in 2016-17. He is on the Board of several educational institutions and public companies. He was a visiting Lecturer and Consulting Professor at Stanford University for courses on Technology in Newly Industrialising Countries. Dr Forbes has received his Bachelor’s, Master’s and PhD Degrees from Stanford University.

Discussants:

• Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is the founder and Executive Chairperson of Biocon Limited and Biocon Biologics Limited. She is a board member of CSEP. Ms Shaw has been named among TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world. She has been pivotal in redefining the biotechnology landscape and ensuring affordable access to life-saving biopharmaceuticals globally. Ms Shaw received the Padma Bhushan in 2005 for her efforts in industrial biotechnology as well as the Padma Shri in 1989. She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology from Bangalore University, India, and is qualified as a Master Brewer from Ballarat University, Australia. She has received many honorary doctorates in recognition of her pre-eminent contributions to the field of Biotechnology.
• Arvind Panagariya is a Professor of Economics and the Jagdish Bhagwati Professor of Indian Political Economy at Columbia University. He served as the first Vice-Chairman of NITI Aayog from 2015-2017 in the rank of a Cabinet Minister. During this tenure, he also served as India’s G20 Sherpa and led the Indian teams that negotiated the G20 communiques. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan in 2012. He was Chief Economist at the Asian Development Bank (ADB) and was on the faculty of the Department of Economics at the University of Maryland. Professor Panagariya has authored more than fifteen books. His book “India: The Emerging Giant” was listed as a top pick of 2008 by The Economist. Prof Panagariya received his PhD in Economics from Princeton University.
• Montek Singh Ahluwalia is a Distinguished Fellow at CSEP and has been a notable figure in Indian economic reforms from the early 1980s onwards. He has previously served as the Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission of India, Finance Secretary in the Ministry of Finance, and as the first director of the Independent Evaluation Office of the IMF. He has written extensively on various aspects of development economics and is a recipient of the Padma Vibhushan, India’s second-highest civilian award for public service. He is the author of “Backstage: The Story Behind India’s High Growth Years (2020)”.

Moderator:

• Rakesh Mohan is President & Distinguished Fellow at CSEP and Member, PMEAC. He was a Professor in the Practice of International Economics at the School of Management and Senior Fellow at the Jackson Institute for Global Affairs at Yale University. He has been closely associated with the Indian economic reforms process from the late 1980s. He was Executive Director on the Board of the IMF, Deputy Governor of the RBI, Secretary, Economic Affairs, and Chief Economic Adviser of the Indian Ministry of Finance, and Economic Adviser in the Ministry of Industry. He received his Ph.D. in Economics from Princeton University, B.A. in Economics from Yale University and a B.Sc. in Electrical Engineering from Imperial College London. He has authored several books and is widely published in major media outlets.

Please contact Ishita Kapoor for general inquiries and Trishna Wahengbam for media inquiries.

All content reflects the individual views of the speakers. The Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) does not hold an institutional view on any subject.