|
23rd May
2007 |
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| Conference
Theme |
| Infrastructure
development plays a key role in economic
growth and poverty reduction. Citizens,
investors and policy makers in India today
acutely feel the constraint of physical
infrastructure on economic growth.
The Indian
economy has been growing at a rate of 8%
plus in the last few years. However India’s
principal advantage of a large, low-cost
labor force is eroded by high charges for
infrastructure services. Except for telecom,
most other infrastructure services in India
are between 50-100% more expensive than
China. Visitors to the country are immediately
struck by the lag in such services between
India and the rest of the South East Asian
region, not just China.
This provides
for a great opportunity however for the
private sector. The Indian government has
realized that this problem will not be solved
by the government alone. A sign of intent
is that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself
chairs the government body on infrastructure.
The body estimates that India’s infrastructure
sector alone can absorb more than $150 Billion
of foreign direct investment (FDI) over
the next 5 years or $30 Billion annually.
India’s total FDI inflow in 2006 was
$11 Billion and bringing in $30 Billion
a year in infrastructure alone will be a
radical step in the economic reforms process.
Our 2007
conference, titled “India
– Marching Ahead” aims
to highlight the extensive work done by
policy makers, businesses and academics
to improve infrastructure in the country.
IBF-2007 wishes to highlight some of these
challenges and opportunities and address
issues that will make India one of the most
attractive places for international business
and trade.
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| Confirmed
Keynote Addresses |
| Praful
Patel – Union Minister for Civil
Aviation, Government of India
Shanta
Devarajan – Chief Economist, South
East Asia Region, World Bank
Rajiv Lall – CEO and
Managing Director, IDFC (Infrastructure
Development Finance Corporation) |
| Build
India – Opportunities and Challenges
in Growth |
|
The economic boom that
India is currently going through is built
on the shakiest of foundations. Highway
bridges, world class airports, reliable
power, modern transportation network and
clean water are in desperate short supply.
What’s there already is crumbling.
GDP would run more than 2 percentage points
higher if India had decent roads, railways
and power according to industry estimates.
This panel will discuss contemporary issues
in Telecoms, Energy, Transportation and
Distribution, Construction and Special Economic
Zone sectors in India. |
The
panelists that have confirmed their participation
are:
|
|
| Finance
India – Role of Capital Markets and
PPP |
|
The commercialization
of infrastructure needs to occur at a faster
rate. The infrastructure sector alone can
absorb three times current FDI levels in
the country. However, the risks of financing
infrastructure projects are high with long
gestation periods, high costs and budgetary
constraints. Recognizing this, the Indian
government has proposed a flexible funding
scheme which will find support from budgetary
allocation to fund Public-Private Partnerships
for infrastructure projects. Therefore the
role of the capital markets and PPP are
crucial in providing the capital required
for developing world class infrastructure
in the country. |
The
panelists that have confirmed their participation
are
| |
•
Helen
Alexander, Chief Executive, The
Economist
• Elif
Acar, Associate Director, Standard
& Poor
• Jon Sibson
– Partner, PriceWaterhouseCoopers
• Sudhir Mathur
– Chief Marketing Officer, GMR
Group
• Vinay
Jayaram – Director, Morgan
Stanley
• Akshaya
Prasad – Executive Director,
Goldman Sachs
• Ravi
Suri –Managing Director.
Standard Chartered
• K
P Krishnan – Joint Secretary,
Finance Ministry, Government of India |
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|
|
| Case
Study – India CEO Champions |
|
In numerous instances
we find examples of individuals or organizations
in India that have made a great impact on
society or business in spite of some of
the teething issues in Indian infrastructure.
They have been guided by a laser focus on
execution and future growth keeping the
Indian context in mind. They have generated
wealth for themselves and others. As part
of this panel discussion, we wish to unearth
on the what, how and why of their success
story, through the infrastructure lens.
|
The
panelists that have confirmed their participation
are
| |
•
Shivinder
Singh, Chief Executive Officer,
Fortis Healthcare
• Professor
Nirmalya Kumar, Professor of Marketing,
London Business School
• Ajit
Gulabchand – Chairman, Hindustan
Construction Company
• Hemant Kanoria,
Managing Director, SREI Infrastructure
Finance Ltd
• Sajjan
Jindal, Head, JSW Group
• Sarthak Behuria,
Chairman, Indian Oil Corporation |
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|
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| Closing Address – Hon.
Kamlesh Sharma, High Commissioner of India, UK |
