ISB@20: ISB graduates helming top companies in the country, says Modi

Hyderabad: Prime Minister Narendra Modi attended the 20th-anniversary celebrations of the Indian School of Business (ISB) Hyderabad and addressed the graduation ceremony of the postgraduate class of 2022.

At the outset, the Prime Minister paid tributes to those who have contributed to taking the institute to its current glory. He recalled that former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee had dedicated this institution to the country in 2001. Since then, more than 50,000 executives have passed out from ISB. Today ISB is among the top business schools in Asia. Professionals passed out from ISB are helming top companies and giving momentum to the country's business. Students from here have created hundreds of start-ups and played a role in creating unicorns. "This is an achievement of ISB and a cause of pride for the entire country," he said.

The Prime Minister noted that today India is the fastest growing economy in the group of G20 countries. In the case of smartphone data consumer, India is number one. If we look at the number of internet users, India is second in the world, he said and added that India is also second in the world in the global retail index. The world's third-largest start-up ecosystem is in India. The world's third-largest consumer market is in India. India is emerging as a major centre of growth today. Last year, the highest ever recorded FDI came into India. Today the world is realising that India means business.

The Prime Minister pointed out that often Indian solutions are being implemented globally. "Today on this important day, I would like to ask you to link your personal goals with the goals of the country," he said.

Determination and political will

The Prime Minister said that the need for reform was always felt in the country, but there was always a lack of political willpower. Due to the continuous political instability in the last three decades, the country has seen a lack of political willpower for a long time. Because of this the country stayed away from reforms and from taking big decisions. Since 2014, our country is seeing political will and reforms are being done continuously. Public support and popular support are assured when reforms are undertaken with determination and political will, the PM said and gave the example of the adoption of digital payments among people.

'Reform, Perform and Transform'

Mr. Modi said that the resilience and strength of the health sector were proved during the pandemic. He said there were concerns about whether COVID-19 foreign vaccines would be available in the country, but India developed its own vaccines. India has administered more than 190 crore doses and has also sent vaccines to more than 100 countries, said the Prime Minister.

He also noted that bureaucracy has made firm contributions to the reform process. He credited the people's participation in the success of the government's scheme. He said that when people cooperate, quick and better results are assured. In the system now, government reforms, bureaucracy performs, and people's participation leads to transformation. He asked the ISB students to study this mechanism of "Reform, Perform and Transform."

The Prime Minister said the biggest reason that India is seeing a phenomenal performance in every sport after 2014 is due to the confidence of our athletes. He added that confidence comes when the right talent is discovered, when there is handholding of talent, when there is a transparent selection and a better infrastructure is available for training and competition. We can see transformation in sports due to reforms like 'Khelo India and the TOPS scheme, he added. Similarly, he cited the aspirational district programme as a great example of performance, value addition, productivity, and motivation in the public policy sphere.

Commenting on the changing business landscape where formal, informal, small and large businesses are expanding their horizons and giving employment to lakhs and crores of people, he stressed the need to give more opportunities to small businesses to grow and help them connect with the new local and global markets. Underlining their immense potential, the Prime Minister stressed that to make India future-ready, we have to ensure that India becomes self-reliant. He saw a great role for students from institutions like ISB. "All you business professionals have a big role in this. And this will be a great example of service to the country for you," he concluded.