Me
and Jonathan were on the Board of Governors in a school in UK. It has been
almost a decade since I returned to India, but we still remain in touch –
initially in the context of the same UK school and later as both of us moved
into the solar power domain. Recently I was on a conference call with Jonathan
and catching up on our developments in India’s solar power sector. Our
discussions ranged from the economics of solar power in India to state level
policies in India and how they need major reforms. I was overwhelmed during our
conversation by the fact that Jonathan knew almost everything about India’s
solar power sector – the state-wise policies, challenges, power tariffs in
India, even to the extent of the latest 5% safeguard duty imposed by India on
import of solar cells and/or modules from certain countries and the list
continues.
As I
closed the conference call, I was taken down the memory lane some couple of
decades back. I was in the Philippines managing export of distillery plants
from India. I had made many good friends there. I was amazed with the plush
malls, shiny Hondas and Toyotas and other cars. India looked years if not
decades behind this South East Asian Tigers. When it was my turn to return, I
thanked my customer friend for their hospitality and invited them to visit
India sometime. I was dismayed with their response when they were reluctant to
do so. They feared the snakes would bite them and they could not survive eating
only chillies (that was their understanding of spicy Indian food). During my
trips to Philippines in late nineties, I used to be the lone Indian on Singapore-Manila
flight and often would go hungry as they did not carry veg food on board the
flight. No wonder, Pilipino people had no clue about India. I guess this
ignorance probably existed in most parts of the world those years.
But why
blame the world ! Ignorance about India was in India itself. During my
Engineering years, I remember, many of my classmates aspired to go overseas for
post graduate studies. In the first year itself, most of them exactly knew top
ten universities in the US and their locations there, their faculty and the
courses offered. And in contrast they were oblivious of places like Beed,
Solapur, Sawantwadi – though some of our classmates hailed from these towns.
But if one reflects back, one realizes, what a sharp turnaround we find since
the new millennium.
While
my Engineering friends and many more likes of them who went aborad, steadily
built the reputation of India and Indians over decades, the real boost came
from the Indian IT revolution. This coupled with many other supporting
developments (ranging from opening up of our economy, nuclear tests conducted
by India, many Indians leading Microsoft and Google and Pepsi…..This gave India
a new identity. The world outlook towards India changed dramatically. From an
insignificant country in terms of economic and political clout, India has transformed
itself into a country of great significance at the global level – be it
politics, economy & trade, sports, industry (Nano car and Steel empire of
Mittals), the Space programs. India is now the sixth largest economy surpassing
France and also ranks sixth in installed capacity of solar power plants at
globally.
In
the late 70s, when the American Skylab plunged into the Indian ocean, nobody would
have cared had its debris fallen in India. But today, imposition of safeguard
duty on solar modules imported from China, reverberates not only in Chinese
solar module manufacturing industry but my friend in the UK knows it too well
as his investment banker is nervous about slowdown in Indian solar power
industry. Fifty years ago, when the space race between the US and the USSR was
at its peak, India struggled to have even basic level telecommunication
services in its towns – leave aside the villages. In contrast, today, India has
deep penetration of mobile phones and talking about high tech space program
- it successfully sent indigenously
built lunar spaceship (Chandrayaan) and another to Mars (Mangalyaan). Not only
this, but it launches satellites for developed countries – successfully and
with better success rate at lower costs than their American and European
counterparts.
This
turnaround is neither sudden nor temporary. It of course satisfies my ego as an
Indian. It could have been and should have been much earlier. But India, in
spite of its diversity, has managed to come this far. I am sure, this is just
the ignition phase and the coming years will see India propel into the next orbit
and to the next.
Suhas Pansare
