An incredible journey through India (I)

I could see some efforts of the Government in reducing taxes, still very high, and also I listened to several critics coming from farmers and business people due to the large size of Governments and difficulties to cut costs and also a propensity to corruption. I perceived in youth generation a large disappointment with Government, according to them, due to its cost, level of corruption, time to take judicial decisions, low infrastructure investments, among others. There is a common perception that Government doesn’t follow the needs of the youth, and this is not a good indicator. Being from Brazil, nothing new for me.

The growth and development challenge can be smelt in every breath. Almost 400 million people in India survive with a daily income of US$ 1,25. It is a country with still more than 60% of the population in rural areas, which is a huge a challenge. The incredible information that Mumbai grows 400.000 people per year was given to me.

But it was also said that the major urbanization changes are happening in the enormous amount of 50-100 thousand people cities, much more manageable. The major impact of urbanization is the change in consumption habits. While in the USA fast food sector grows 4% per year, in India it is growing 35% per year. Specialists say that fast food market was of US$ 1 billion in 2010, and may approach US$ 3 billion in 2015, when McDonalds plans to have 500 outlets, Yum! plans to expand 500 new units of Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC and Domino’s Pizza also expanding its 500 units.

Other topic that deserves our attention is that India is a very young country. While in China we have the policy of one child per couple, India grows fast and has today almost 600 million people with ages below 25 and 225 million among 10 to 20 years. India will have in the future a huge amount of people at working ages, and this is a very competitive factor. The decision here is crucial, not only for India, but for several countries like Brazil.

To transform this immense youth in what I call a cargo truck, to help carry society forward, than to leave them without support and transform them in cargo to be transported by others is probably the major challenge of these countries.

In 2013, with several improvement suggestions, India is launching the “food security bill”, to create obligations for the State to guarantee food to every person that lacks resources to purchase the minimum amount of food for a healthy life. This fact will bring huge impact in food chains and food imports, since it means investments of Federal budget in the food markets. India is still far behind the development China had in reducing poverty and this Government regulation can really alter the future of India, solving problems of poverty and giving conditions to a much more competitive society in the future.

This is India, a country that gives several important signals to international society. I hope to have convinced the reader about my previous perception that is in India where we are going the see the world’s leadership in changes. I will come back in next article of this journey, talking about agriculture in India and the strategic agenda.

The author is professor of strategic planning and food chains at the School of Economics and Business, University of Sao Paulo, Brazil (www.favaneves.org) and international speaker. Author of 25 books published in 8 countries and in China, “The World on the Tongue”.