Sunil Bharti Mittal, Chairman of Bharti Enterprises, said in an exclusive interview with Moneycontrol on the sidelines of the 2023 B20 India Summit in New Delhi on August 25, India is on a growth path similar to China 25 years ago.
“India is on the upswing, as we saw in China 25 years ago,” Mittal said. We are enjoying strong forward winds. I personally feel it.”
Mittal added that India’s digital story is being told around the world.
“I go around the globe. whether it’s the US or European nations, but importantly Latin, Africa and many of the developing nations are truly remarkably inspiring for India’s run,” he said.
Mittal also noted that India is riding on the back of a digital wave in which a few players need to play a key role on the connectivity front.
Focus on Africa
Adopting Africa as a place to do agriculture can change the world and alter food ecosystems, Mittal said, as he drew attention to the ongoing global crisis in food production.
“Sixty per cent of world’s arable and yet uncultivated land is in Africa. Today we have all witnessed the crisis the world is going through in terms of food production. Just think of Africa as a place of agricultural production, maybe value-added agriculture… the whole world can change,” he said in his speech at the B20 Summit.
The telecom tycoon added that Africa’s economic integration is gaining momentum and expressed hope that the African Union will soon become a permanent member of the G20.
Mittal said Africa’s voice at the G20 was “absolutely important”.
Earlier, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman, in his speech at the B20 summit, said that the current government has carried out reforms steadily over the past nine years with stable results, while the reforms introduced by previous governments performed erratically. She added that a sustainable global economic recovery will be key in the coming years as the global economy recovers from the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic and the war between Ukraine and Russia.
Furthermore, the Finance Minister added that despite these challenges, Indian economy is still growing fastest in the world and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) figures for April-June period 2023-24 is expected to be “good”.
Furthermore, Sithararamam added that the willingness of the government led by Narendra Modi to implement reforms is the main reason why the Indian economy is outperforming its peers globally.
