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    Unlocking women's potential, faster reforms could help India grow rapidly: Dominic Barton, McKinsey

    Synopsis

    Many women still lack access to education, health services, and economic opportunity, inhibiting India’s potential growth.

    By Dominic Barton

    India is on the move. In the midst of considerable turmoil in many emerging markets, Indian growth in 2016 is projected to remain strong — the World Bank forecasts 7.8% GDP growth in 2016, compared to 4.8% for developing countries overall. India’s long-term prospects are equally bright — the Indian consuming class is expected to more than triple to 89 million households by 2025. By 2030, India will have 75 cities with a population of over 1 million people.

    Poverty and inequality remain barriers to achieving India’s full potential. The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that the level of consumption needed to meet basic human development needs (such as water and sanitation) is 1.6 times higher than India’s official poverty line — and that 56% of Indians, or over 700 million people, live below this “empowerment line”. Many women still lack access to education, health services, and economic opportunity, inhibiting India’s potential growth.

    The new government has made bold plans to transform the nation in the next decade. Many programmes are still in their initial phases, but action so far has included higher bank account penetration, a strong push on jobs and growth through Skill India and Make in India initiatives, and reduced “leakage” of social assistance by transferring funds directly to beneficiaries. There is still work to be done, but the public sector has generated strong momentum.

    We see four additional “gamechangers” for India, to help the nation reach the next phase in economic maturity and social equality: harnessing the power of disruptive digital technologies, unlocking the potential of women, achieving energy independence, and accelerating reforms.

    1. Harnessing the power of disruptive digital technologies

    We estimate that the 12 most disruptive technologies could have $16.6 trillion-$23.7 trillion in economic impact by 2025. Chief among this “disruptive dozen” are new digital technologies — e.g., mobile Internet, the automation of knowledge work, and the Internet of Things. These technologies have the power to transform the lives of millions of Indians, delivering services from education to healthcare to banking at extremely low cost. Indian tech entrepreneurs are also using new digital technologies to create jobs and economic value, founding innovative companies known worldwide — e.g., Flipkart, Snapdeal, and Ola.

    The government’s planned Digital India effort is an important step toward bringing the benefits of technology to all Indians. The social and private sectors should also engage, expanding delivery of social services through mobile technologies and driving private innovation across the Indian economy.

    2. Unlocking the potential of women

    Women contribute only 17% of India’s GDP today, and comprise only 24% of the workforce — compared with 40% globally. Raising female economic participation as part of a broad drive toward advancing women’s equality would have huge economic benefits. If India were to match the progress towards gender parity of the fastestimproving country in its region, for example, it could add $700 billion to its GDP in 2025.

    Opening doors to economic opportunity for women is vital. But for women to be equal participants in work, they need to be equal partners in society. Concerted action can make this happen, including closing gender gaps in education; lowering barriers to job creation in tourism, healthcare, and manufacturing; further strengthening legal protections for women; and improving infrastructure to address the high burden of routine domestic work, childcare, and elder care on women.

    3. Achieving energy independence

    Historically, India has been a massive energy importer. Though India’s per capita energy consumption is still low compared to many Western countries, India will need more and more power as a large portion of the population enters the consuming class. The cost of importing fossil fuels could be a considerable drain onpublic and private funds.

    Achieving energy independence will require a multipronged approach, including investments in conventional and renewable energy sources, adoption of new energy storage technologies, and improved energy efficiency norms. Leaders from across the public, private, and social sectors must collaborate, setting ambitious targets for renewable energy adoption (such as those being set by the government for solar power production) and investing in domestic innovation in advanced conventional and renewable technologies.

    4. Accelerating reforms

    Recent public sector reforms in India are bearing fruit. The World Bank ranks India as 130th globally in terms of ease of doing business, up from 142nd last year. India’s ranking on the World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness report is now 55, from 71.

    As these rankings suggest, India has made meaningful headway in regulatory reform, though there is still substantial work to be done. The country still is in the bottom half of most ease of doing business rankings, and a sharper focus on reforms could help boost investment and productivity. India should consider setting targets for measuring success (such as investment targets) and streamlining government processes with the help of empowered agencies to coordinate central, state, and local government bodies. Improved urban governance could also help spur growth in mid-sized cities, which are the economic engines of the future. The McKinsey Global Institute estimates that only 27% of India’s urban population lives in mid-sized cities (i.e., those with populations between 0.5 million and 4 million) — if India follows China’s urbanisation trajectory, this figure could rise to nearly 50% over the next few years.

    India has enormous potential. Tri-sector collaboration on four key dimensions — harnessing the power of disruptive digital technologies, unlocking the potential of women, achieving energy independence, and accelerating reforms — could help the country reach the next “Scurve” of its development and fully take its place as a global economic leader.



    (Dominic Barton is the global managing director of McKinsey)

    Mckinsey global MD Dominic Barton will be speaking at ET GBS, to be held in New Delhi on January 29-30


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