So what did the Silicon dudes, collectively representing around $500 billion in purchasing power, think of the case placed before them by the Indian PM?
From the looks of it, they thought he was kosher. They are businessmen. Appealing to them for “help” can soften them a bit. But, ultimately, business folks live and die by wealth.
The good news is that India fits in well even on this metric. We have the numbers. More importantly, each of us would also have decent purchasing power by then — Modi wants each of us to have $13,500 per year in today’s terms. This is improbable. But even if we get to just half of that, which is possible, we would be as “well off” as China is today. That is not very rich by the standards of the rich, but definitely upper middle class.
An additional $50 trillion in purchasing power over 15 years makes all business drool. The annual revenues of the Fortune 500 companies is $12.5 trillion. Okay, so now we know why all those business folk turned up to be with Mr Modi. But why then did the PM go through with the dance? After all, if India is such an irresistible market, then shouldn’t the Fortune 500s be rushing in to occupy the 500,000 apartments which lie unoccupied today in India?
Two factors explain the asymmetry between the hubris at home and the fizz abroad. First, Team India is a big ship. Stoking the fire in its oversized belly and changing course takes time. In contrast, business overseas view visitors much the same as co-passengers on a flight. This goes for both the older, preachy Fortune 500, who are classic bullies, or the more gentle, yogis in Silicon Valley, adept at the “rope trick” of quietly raking in billions without a bottomline to support the extraordinary valuations of their stock. They will engage whilst the flight lasts. But anything more substantive is only on acceptable terms — these being the “bottomline” for the “sunset community” in the Fortune 500 group and the “top line” for the Silicon geeks.
India presents more immediate potential for the “top line” obsessed Silicon entrepreneur. Their escalator is founded on expanding the business, not solely on growing profits. This is not to say that there are no profits in India. But Asian companies from Japan, China, and Korea in sunset industries, are better placed to be responsive to the fragmented Indian market than a Fortune 500 corporate, which survive on scale not agility.
It is no wonder then that whilst PM warmed up instinctively to the Silicon Valley crowd the interaction with the “500 dinosaurs” was formal. Thankfully, Silicon Valley is more vital for India’s urgent “development” needs than the czars of Wall Street, Detroit or Houston. San Jose and New Mexico is about disruptive innovation. This “value” shapes business processes, supply lines and determines who the next “legend” will be. This resonates well with the Indian.
Digital access democratises access to information and knowledge especially if customised in India’s 22 languages. Connecting 600,000 villages and all educational institutions with broadband will provide Internet access to all. Nandan Nilekani’s UID is a game changer which is being actively expanded for the direct transfer of subsidy. Digital access enhances communication and remote participation even in local events, a feature crucial for a country of domestic migrants, where 25 per cent of the people live away from where they were born.
The proposed digital archiving of individual data-identity, health and education records in secure “lockers” liberates the marginalised in particular who have no permanent residence, and are frequently asked to produce these documents for jobs and to access public services.
For the elite personalised service via human interaction elevates their own sense of entitlement. But a dalit, whose very shadow is abhorrent to some, may prefer an impersonal, indeed robotic, neutral, service provider, like an ATM which is available 24x7. Street dwellers will be the first to benefit from lower pollution if tele-meetings and remote work cuts the need to commute. The primary beneficiaries of tele-medicine will be remote villages where all they have today is the village “Bengali” doctor.
Digital India is the key to critical aspects of inclusive development, enhancing the “efficiency” of public investment and more “decent” jobs. But this is not the real reason why Modi is happiest talking “new” technology. Behind his stern “Samurai” exterior lies a romantic, who believes that empowered individuals can change the world. To do this San Jose is a far better door to walk through than Wall Street. Don’t be surprised if you see him at the “Burning Man” festival — the new technology parallel to the old world Davos — a fun meet of the free spirited and those who imagine a better world, held annually in the Nevada desert, over the Labour day weekend.
The writer is adviser, Observer Research Foundation
