Indian Leaders Discuss Inclusive Growth at the 12th Annual Wharton India Economic Forum

Last week, 600 individuals — including a number of leading professionals from India who sacrificed their Holi, Easter, Eid Milad and/or Navroz holidays with their families – gathered in Philadelphia for the 12^th annual Wharton India Economic Forum. This conference was founded in 1996 by then-Wharton student, Vinnie Badinehal, now Managing Director at Merrill Lynch (the lead sponsor for the conference), who recognized the value of a shared dialogue on the opportunities and challenges in India, long before India was in the media spotlight.

What was perhaps most exciting to me, as an Acumen Fund team member, was that every panel - not just the development panel - talked about the need for more inclusive growth in India, to take into account the 70 percent of the population that lives in villages or the 80 percent of the population that still lives under $1 a day - to enable the provision of basic services like clean water, affordable healthcare, and education.

Tejpreet Chopra of General Electric in India, discussed the challenge – faced by all companies in India – of bringing down the price of their products/services to a level that is affordable to a majority of Indians. It’s certainly a challenge that Acumen Fund and our entrepreneurs also confront, and we think sharing knowledge of what works and doesn’t in these markets is key to overcoming the distribution and pricing challenges that stand in the way of people having affordable access to basic services.

Chopra also talked about what he termed the “war on talent” – how do you recruit and retain individuals given growing opportunities in India? For us, our Fellows program is a small step toward building talent, but our Fellows class each year is 7-10 individuals, and the need for talent in India is in the millions. }

Keynote speaker Vinod Dham, of NEA-IndoUS Ventures, talked about the landscape of venture capital in India and remarked on how technology cannot solve an issue per se, but that innovation in the business model is what is required. He also commented on how entrepreneurs really need more than capital; they need advice and mentoring. Those are exactly the kinds of things that Acumen Fund, a venture fund that provides enterprise development services, has found to be true.

I left with a feeling of optimism, which was topped by President Abdul Kalam’s vision for a developed India by 2020. His words left me with a positive reminder: to do this work that is difficult and hard to sustain: “Doubt has never led to prosperity, only faith has.” My thanks to the Wharton students for pulling together this mix of discussions on business, development, leadership and optimism needed to create sustainable social impact and economic value in this world.