Book: Its Indias Century, writes Commerce Minister Kamal Nath

The Age of Entrepreneurship in the Worlds Biggest Democracy, written by Commerce and Industry minister Kamal Nath, and published by McGraw Hill. Nath, an astute political figure with a business background, has played an active part in India political and economic history over the last few decades, making him a good candidate for writing his viewpoints on Indias economic rise.

In the book, his observations are rooted in the reality of everyday rural India (courtesy his stint as a longstanding MP from a small town Chhindwara), at the same time it captures the current global economic and business moods. The book explores and narrates Indias journey of transformation into a global economy. It thereafter relates Indias economic engagement with the leading nations of the world and how it could be profitable for stakeholders in the coming years.

Tracing the roots of the economic fruits to the deep sovereign crisis that India was faced in 1991, when it had to pledge its gold to international institutions, Nath evocatively writes, Every country has its modern age, which arrives in its own time. It need not begin with fanfare. Often it is a product of a crisis. It could be the result of a breach of the social contract between government and the governed over a violent taxation issue, as it was in England on the cusp of the Glorious Revolution in the seventeenth century, and in America a century later, in 1776. In Indias case, the crisis was less dramatic (although it certainly didnt seem so at the time) and was caused by economic and emotional meltdown. It was the spring of 1991, the harbinger of a tempestuous year for Indias politics and its economy.

Nath makes interesting observations about Indian entrepreneurs. Writes Nath, In India, entrepreneurship is a unique way of seizing the day. And it comes naturally to Indias people, with little or no hesitation or self-consciousness. The Indian is an insta-prenure, a portmanteau word for an instant entrepreneur. To substantiate his point, Nath talks about the famous Mumbai Dabbawalas,

Nath also explores Indian entrepreneurs unique can-do attitude, which he explains as jugaad, and the ages-old entrepreneurial spirit that is once again free to express itself at every level of Indian society.

Asking the vital question, Is this sense of entrepreneurship recent, or is it embedded in Indians genes?, Nath opines that latter is more true. Writes Nath, Prior to the two centuries of subjugation under the British, and even as late as 1815, India accounted for a sixth of global industrial production, something that would have been impossible without domestic entrepreneurs.

Talking about the future of India, Nath writes, The rising stock of Indias worth in the global hierarchy can be seen in the rapid influx of multidimensional business, investment, and trade into the country. As the worlds largest democracy, India has always enjoyed a unique political legitimacy. With added economic clout, this legitimacy will only grow.

Nath has called on the new generation of Indian entrepreneurs to go global and look for synergies and integrations arising out of developments in the international trade and business environment.
In all, a good book for an overview of whats happening in the Indian social and economic landscape, and an informed opinion on the whys too.