India yet to be transformed, needs more innovation and impatience: Rajiv Kumar

MUMBAI: India may be celebrating a century of the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC), but the message from two of the country’s prominent business and policy voices was clear: the country’s transformation is far from complete.

Speaking at the ICC’s centenary book launch in Mumbai, Ajay Piramal and economist and former NITI Aayog vice chairman Rajiv Kumar discussed India’s next phase of economic development, the role of private enterprise and what young leaders need to do differently.

The conversation was hosted by the ICC Young Leaders Forum (YLF), the youth wing of ICC, and moderated by its Mumbai chairperson Ankit Gupta.

The discussion coincided with the launch of Never Taking No for an Answer: India’s Indomitable Private Enterprise, edited by Rajiv Kumar. The book marks ICC’s 100-year journey and examines how Indian private enterprise has evolved through major economic and political shifts.

Kumar struck a deliberately impatient note on India’s development journey, arguing that the country still has significant ground to cover before it can achieve its long-term ambitions.

He pointed to India’s earlier target of becoming a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25, noting that the country had not yet reached that level in dollar terms.

For Kumar, one of the biggest obstacles is complacency, particularly the tendency of institutions to favour the status quo.

He argued that India needs to move away from business as usual and focus more aggressively on innovation, research and development and technological breakthroughs.

Kumar also highlighted the scale of the ambition behind India’s Viksit Bharat goal. With the global economy potentially reaching around $200 trillion by 2050, he said India would need an economy of roughly $36 trillion to achieve the desired share.

That, he suggested, will require a fundamental shift in how the country approaches growth.

Rather than simply doing more of the same, India will need to think differently, embrace a degree of impatience with slow progress and create an environment where innovation can move faster.

Kumar also urged younger leaders to learn continuously, saying that successful leaders should not end a day without having learnt something new.

Ajay Piramal took a different but complementary approach, putting values at the centre of his message to young entrepreneurs.

He argued that businesses will inevitably change as markets and technology evolve, but the values that guide them should remain constant.

For Piramal, qualities such as integrity, humility, authenticity and the willingness to take risks are not lessons that can simply be taught through lectures. They have to be demonstrated through actions.

His message was particularly aimed at younger generations, including Gen Z, who he suggested are more likely to follow what leaders do than what they say.

Piramal also highlighted the importance of giving young people space to take risks, experiment and build something new, while ensuring that core values are passed from one generation to the next.

The discussion also reflected the changing nature of leadership itself. While experience remains valuable, both speakers stressed the importance of learning, adaptability and a willingness to question established practices.

The conversation formed part of ICC’s centenary celebrations and the launch of Never Taking No for an Answer: India’s Indomitable Private Enterprise.

Edited by Rajiv Kumar and unveiled by Ajay Piramal, the book brings together perspectives from prominent business leaders and institutional voices, including Kumar Mangalam Birla, Sanjiv Goenka, Naveen Jindal, Sangita Reddy, Bharat Hari Singhania, Harsh Neotia, Ratan Jindal and Omkar Goswami, among others.

Across nine essays, the book traces the evolution of Indian private enterprise from the freedom movement and the License Raj to economic liberalisation and India’s emergence as a major global economy.

Its central theme is the ability of Indian businesses to turn constraints into opportunities and adversity into innovation, while building institutions that can survive across generations.

For the ICC Young Leaders Forum, the centenary conversation also served as a bridge between those who shaped India’s entrepreneurial past and the generation expected to shape its next chapter.

Ankit Gupta emphasised that every generation has something to learn and something to unlearn, framing the forum as a space where young leaders can challenge established ideas while learning from India’s business history.

Sangeeta Jain also highlighted ICC’s continuing role in bringing government and industry together, with the broader objective of supporting India’s journey towards Viksit Bharat.

The message from the evening was ultimately straightforward: India’s next economic chapter will need more than capital and scale. It will require impatient ambition, continuous learning, technological innovation and leaders willing to evolve without losing sight of the values that built the foundations before them.