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Calcutta Chamber of Commerce
Welcome Address by Ms. Shailja Mehta
President, Calcutta Chamber of Commerce
Prof. Ramesh Chand, Hon’ble Member, NITI Aayog
Mr. K. K. Kejriwal, Sr. Vice President
Distinguished Guests
Fellow Members of the Chamber Representatives from the Media
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my honour and privilege to extend a very warm and hearty welcome to Prof. Ramesh Chand, Hon’ble Member, NITI Aayog.
A warm welcome to all the distinguished invitees and members of the Calcutta Chamber of Commerce.
Calcutta Chamber of Commerce, founded in 1830, is the oldest Commerce & Industry Association in India and also in Asia. The Chamber while encouraging excellence in different fields of human endeavour also promotes debates on issues pertaining to Civil Society.
Ø Prof. Ramesh Chand is currently Member of NITI Aayog (in the rank and status of Union Minister of State) and Chairman of the Institute of Economic Growth, New Delhi. He has a Ph.D. in Agricultural Economics from Indian Agricultural Research Institute (IARI), New Delhi. He is Fellow, National Academy of Agricultural Sciences and Indian Society of Agricultural Economics. He has been involved in policy formulation for agriculture sector for the last two and a half decades. Prior to joining NITI Aayog, he was Director National Institute of Agricultural Economics and Policy Research, New Delhi.
Ø In addition, Prof. Ramesh Chand is also Member of:
· Board of Trustees (BOT) of CIMMYT (International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center), Mexico.
· The Policy Advisory Council (PAC) of the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR), Canberra, Australia.
Ø In the recent past, he also held the position of Member of the Fifteenth Finance Commission.
Ø In the past, Prof. Ramesh Chand has worked in senior academic positions as ICAR National Professor; Professor and Head, Institute of Economic Growth, Delhi University; and Professor at Punjab Agricultural University, Ludhiana. Prof. Chand has been Visiting Professor at University of Wollongong, NSW Australia and at Institute of Developing Economies, Chiba Shi, Japan. He has also been Consultant with international organizations such as FAO, UNDP, ESCAP, UNCTAD, Commonwealth and World Bank.
Ø Prof. Chand has chaired important committees on Food and Agricultural Policy set up by various Ministries of Government of India. He has served as India’s nodal officer for agriculture for SAARC for 7 years and represented India in meetings of G20, UNESCAP.
Ø Prof. Chand has authored seven books and published more than 150 research papers in reputed national and international journals in the areas of agriculture production, growth, development policy, farmers’ issues, markets and trade..
Ø Prof. Chand has been presented Jawaharlal Nehru Award (1984), Rafi Ahmad Kidwai Award (2006) of Indian Council of Agricultural Research and Atal Bihari Vajpayee Award (2018) by Indian Economic Association. In 2021, he was also conferred Degree of Science (Honoris Causa) by Professor Jayashankar Telangana State Agricultural University, Hyderabad and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel University of Agriculture and Technology, Meerut.
The trajectory of India’s economic growth has been commended across the globe for almost a decade now with the country’s average annual growth rate of GDP ranging between 6-8 per cent every year. India has done well in many indicators such as economic growth, exports, balance of payments, resilience to external shocks, service sector growth, significant accumulation of foreign exchange, information technology (IT and improvements in telecommunications.
Much has been achieved over the past 75 years in both economic and social terms. However, many challenges remain that need to be addressed over the next quarter century.
India is the world’s fastest-growing major economy in the world, according to GDP growth projections in the Financial Year (FY) 2022 by IMF. Certain threats, however, prevail in terms of upside risk to inflation, slower growth in investment and credit and uncertain trade prospects with appreciating rupee and uncertain global economic conditions.
There is abundant data to show that there are several potholes that could derail the ambitious growth plans of India. Major percent of the population is still dependent on agriculture. In the realm of health and education and other Human Development Indicators India’s performance has been far from satisfactory, showing a wide range of regional inequalities with urban areas getting most of the benefits.
This calls for a concerted effort to make India’s growth more inclusive in the future. The main thrust of inclusive growth strategies has to be on the following key areas: (1) employment and growth in agriculture; (ii) increased public expenditure on education and health; (iii) improved infrastructure; and (iv) more effective governance at all levels.
The budgetary allocations to social sectors are growing but without any commensurate increase in welfare benefits to the masses. A change in the implementation modalities of budgeted schemes is required for better outcomes. Only well targeted expenditures coupled with sound implementation can benefit the poor.
While celebrating Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav during India’s 75th year of Independence, we need to focus more on agriculture and rural infrastructure, education and skill development, better health services, scaling up infrastructure investments, irrigation, sanitation further by faster execution of projects and speedier delivery. These would work to take us to 8-9% sustainable growth path.
We have with us today an eminent agricultural expert Prof. Ramesh Chand, Hon’ble Member, NITI Aayog to share insights on macro trends shaping the Indian economy and his thoughts on Inclusive India.
