PIC’s Founding Member and the co-Chairman of Forbes Marshall, Dr Naushad Forbes, was the guest speaker for a discussion on his book, ‘The Struggle and the Promise: Restoring India’s Potential’. Dr Vijay Kelkar was in the Chair and PIC Members, Prof Ajay Shah and Dr V. Premnath were the discussants.
Dr. Forbes, in his opening remarks, highlighted India’s soft power and presented the three key priorities for the nation discussed in the book: Giving the industry a greater role in nation building, strengthen the quality of our liberal democracy and maintain a balance between the political and cultural institutions of the country. He said inclusive and equitable growth could happen in the decades to come once we focus on increasing CSR activities, promoting mass skill development and investing in R&D infrastructure.
Dr. Ajay Shah, Co-founder, XKDR Forum & Senior Fellow PIC, said while the support to the industry was positive, the lack of funding for research institutions by the government was disappointing. Dr. V. Premnath, Head of Innovations at CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory,  Founder Director, Venture Centre & Member PIC, reiterated the point of expanding the number of institutes in the R&D sector and listed steps to arrest the growing ‘brain drain’ which ultimately benefits the host nations.
Dr. Vijay Kelkar, in his concluding remarks, praised Dr. Forbes for his meticulous research and shared his observations on the current GST structure, the growing debate on ‘Centralization vs Decentralization’ and the way forward for Indian businesses to grow. The discussion included a lively round of questions from the audience.