India can be global leader in future tech: Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran

He added that India has a unique advantage with great academic institutions, human capital and a “tremendous market”. (File image)

Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekaran on Friday said India can be a global leader in future technologies, products and services over the next decade, as it emerges out of the pandemic.

In a virtual address to the 2021 graduating class of ISB, Chandrasekaran said, “As India emerges out of this pandemic, it can be a global leader in the coming decade in R&D, science and technology, artificial intelligence, manufacturing and a whole range of products and services, because I believe we have the human capital, we have the scale, we have the market, all we have to do is to have the right leadership, the right mindset and make the right investments.”

Drawing a parallel with how China grew itself from a 1.2 trillion economy to a 6 trillion economy, registering a six times growth in a matter of 10 years between 2000 and 2010, he said, this was through their focus on a tectonic shift in manufacturing and the partnership is developed with the United States. Similarly, “Today’s geo-political context provides an added unprecedented opportunity for India,” he said.

“We have already proven that it possible in the field of IT services, but now we can focus on high tech manufacturing, 5G, artificial intelligence, data analytics, robotics and a range of new areas which can be fuelled by research and development and investment in intellectual property ownership,” he said.

He added that India has a unique advantage with great academic institutions, human capital and a “tremendous market”. He said, “We need to bring it all together”.