Dear Industry Colleague,
Greetings from CyberMedia Research!
As the new government at the Centre settles down to the serious business of governance, there are a few concerns but equally, a good deal of optimism on account of a continued recovery in the US economy, softening of global crude oil prices and relatively positive upswings in leading international stock indices.
India is on better, firmer ground to take-off to a good growth story in the coming months with a stable and decisive government charting out the agenda for programmes like ‘Digital India and ‘Make in India’, creating supportive policy reforms in labour laws, land acquisition laws, infrastructure investments, defence and insurance to name the major ones. This is very much on expected lines from a majority government that won broad-based support from youth and educated classes on the one-point plank of speeding up development and growth.
Thus, this is a government that is placed in an advantageous position, and we can be confident to see more reforms in the weeks ahead, as our new Prime Minister has proved that he likes to lead from the front.
If we look at India’s 10-year GDP, it has doubled from US$ 700 bn in 2004 to USD 1.4 tn in 2013. This encourages us to think that our economy should be able to repeat the same in the coming decade too.  There seems to be greater all-round consumer and business confidence generated within the country as well as from leading international investors.
Earlier policy announcements like a cut in the consumer electronics import duty and exemptions on component for PC manufacturing are certain to drive the India IT hardware and ESDM sector growth further, similar to the growth of mobile handsets, smartphones and Tablets in recent years. Some of the key governance programmes of the country are also likely to see a spurt in all-round adoption of Software and IT Services.
The real clincher for a country like India would be to see the growth of industry, the services sector and infrastructure in the next 250-300 smaller urban centres. These cities and towns are bursting with India’s large population of youth who have a substantial and increasing appetite for education, gainful employment and consumption of a variety of goods and services. This trends is further validated by the geographical expansion plans of many IT vendors, who are scaling and building up there Tier-II, Tier-III and Tier-IV level distribution and retail networks. For instance, there are players like Asus that have unveiled plans to roll out over 200 retail stores by the end of the current year.
 The ‘Digital India’ drive will surely fuel digital penetration into smaller towns with affordable and financed devices clubbed with the availability of broadband access. The government is committed to improving rural connectivity, by driving all inclusive growth and connecting one billion under its low cost connectivity initiatives.
Thus, it’s a rare moment in history when a supportive macro environment, waiting at the cusp of the right economic reforms can help to leverage India’s ‘demographic dividend’ of approximately 65% under-35 years youth population to leapfrog and push further the entire nation’s growth in the years ahead.
The IT, Telecoms, ESDM, BioTech and other sunrise knowledge-driven industries will surely be both the drivers and the major benefactors of this positive cycle.
I wish you and your teams all the very best to exploit the growth opportunities that come your way in this and the forthcoming year.
Sincerely,
Thomas George
SVP & Head
