NDTV World Summit 2024 Live: Baba Kalyani On Defence Goals; Suneeta Reddy Calls For Research Spending Hike

"We shouldn't be happy about MNCs setting up shop here just because they create jobs, this is another type of colonialism," says Baba Kalyani.

He said the scale of manufacturing in India needs be 12 times of where it is at and without innovation, you cannot manufacture. "There are many areas where we don't make anything. To convince global players regarding our tech, the innovation should be such that it is not there anywhere on the planet.

Suneeta Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group, said India spends only 0.7% of GDP on research and this needs to change. "We need to think why its important for India. Unless we do the right research, and integrate it with other practices such as Ayurveda, it can lead to a healthy India."

"Ethanol is the green fuel and pollution levels are much lower. Positive side is that the government has moved pro-actively to push ethanol blending. It reduces the import bill drastically. Now the government is saying that you can use wheat, maize, essentially anything that has starch," said Ajay Shriram, Chairman & Managing Director, DCM Shriram.

Baba Kalyani of Bharat Forge said developing defence technology involves a lot of risk and his company has achieved its goals.

"Today, we export artillery guns to other countries. We have a lot of advantages today in terms of tech breakthroughs. No manufacturing company can survive without using AI, IoT. We can't just copy products from outside. Other countries should now copy our products."

"We've signed an agreement with IIT Chennai to re-engineer medical devices at 1/10th of their costs. Next is to bring technology, healthcare and bio-engineering together. Patients from 147 countries come to India to avail health services. We should aim to reach more people throughout the world," said Suneeta Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group.

"Without manufacturing, India cannot achieve its Viksit Bharat objectives. We've been manufacturing critical components in automotives for the last two decades. AI is going to make an ordinary person into an extraordinary one. AI will will increase efficiency," said Baba Kalyani, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Forge.

This panel discussion will involve Baba Kalyani, Chairman & Managing Director, Bharat Forge, Suneeta Reddy, Managing Director, Apollo Hospitals Group and Ajay Shriram, Chairman & Managing Director, DCM Shriram.

"We continue to work with HAL and soon manufacture F414 engine. Over 900,000 are flying the globe with GE Aerospace tech. We cannot be more excited for what India has to offer for this sector," said Vikram Rai, CEO of GE Aerospace, South Asia.

"We are rapidly closing the gap with mature aviation markets like China and the US. There is significant potential for growth, driven by a strong push for infrastructure development. The number of airports has doubled in the last decade, and Indian airlines are already on this transformative journey. We've developed engines that are 10-15% more efficient than previous models," said Vikram Rai, CEO of GE Aerospace, South Asia.

"Routine, mundane, repetitive jobs will be under huge threat. Remain hopeful that new ideas will come through that will lead to new jobs. We will be serving the world right from India. AI allows us to do that and our frugal innovations are going to serve the world," Sunil Mittal said.

"AI will be the most important drivers of economy, politics, geopolitics. There will be misuse of AI as well, we will have to more vigilant. Nation states will have to come up with guardrails. One will have to be vigilant, society will have to be protected from evils of AI. I remain very optimistic of the various uses of AI," he said.

"We need to buy more spectrum. The future is resting on digital infra. We will build infra similar to Singapore and Japan right here in our country. Policy predictability is required for all investors. In the last decade, we have seen more stability, regulations have simplified," Mittal said.

"We are significantly superior than US, UK, Europe regarding quality of mobile networks. We are behind Japan, Singapore."

Sunil Bharti Mittal said the problem telecom companies face in places like Lutyen's Delhi is difficulty in placing mobile network towers in areas like residential buildings as people tend to deny permissions.

"We have two billion people in the world not connected to the internet. The large swathes of Rajasthan, Himalayas are difficult to be covered by telephony. For these areas, you need satellite communication. This is a huge opportunity for Indian players," Sunil Mittal said.

"India provides high quality signal to 95% of its people."

"All industrial players know that the consumption is going to rise. Government is encouraging massive investment in infrastructure. Airtel spends Rs 30,000-35,000 crores in digital infrastructure," says Mittal.

"Africa has always been the continent of hope. We have 160 million customers in the continent in 14 countries. The companies are growing at the rate of 20%, which is huge compared to other places."

"The good thing is that India's money is welcome on the global stage, unlike our neighbours. China's investments are being blocked, while Middle East sovereign funds are seeing stronger filter. Western world prefers private investment. You are seeing GMR airports globally, Adani going global, and the like."

"In 2010, we made an audacious move to go Africa. You will see Airtel in 14 countries in Africa. We are in Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. We have recently made a move to acquire 10% in British telecom. You can see emergence of India's companies on global stage," says Sunil Mittal.

"We have seen the transformation of this country. India has become a place where you produce locally, use locally, and even export locally," said Mittal.

Bharti Airtel chief Sunil Bharti Mittal is speaking at the NDTV World Summit 2024.

Nobel Laureate Prof Paul Romer said it is worrying that for voters in the US, it is a "hard choice" between a former federal prosecutor and a habitual criminal in the presidential election. He noted that the election is too close to call.

"China and Russia want to go back to world of empires. They think of empires meddling influence and no notion of national borders. There is a western nation which says nations cannot invade others. India needs to decide which side it is on. I think India will stand up for sovereign state as the organising principal," he said.

"In India, the benefit is people get benefits in their daily lives in terms of innovation and delivery (of services). People see the government has delivered and that gives it legitimacy and allows it to do more. In Aadhar, there was fear that the judiciary will hamstring the initiative, but we had a strong executive that pushed it through."

"You don't need a government that runs an airline. You need one which is strong on safety regulations and tell airlines you can't fly planes unless you fix safety defects," he said.

"Economists have done a huge disservice to the world by reinforcing the notion that government is the problem and the market is the solution. This is something that has been tackled by India. The Indian government is not afraid to set up standards that are to be followed. Indian government built the UPI. In our country, people are scared of the government coming up with even an application," said Nobel Laureate Prof Paul Romer.

Nobel Laureate Prof Paul Romer said the US has squandered opportunities in technology and to see that, it has to be compared with India.

"People in US are not living as long. This is because tech has not been used to increase the average life expectancy in the US. The technologies have not been used to improve quality of lives. Look what Aadhar has done, not just making it easy to make digital payment but gave existence to millions of people with no access," he said.

Nobel Laureate Prof Paul Romer is now speaking at the NDTV World Summit 2024 on the topic 'The Age of Indian Disruption'.

The former UK Prime Minister, who is an avid cricket fan, picked three Indian cricketers of different generations as his favourites. He started by remembering former India captain and left-arm orthodox spinner, Bishan Singh Bedi. He also highlighted Rahul Dravid as a great batsman and Virat Kohli's leadership of the modern Indian cricket team.

The former UK prime minister praised Ratan Tata's contribution to reviving and growing Jaguar Land Rover. He said that Tata's work made him realise that India's time had arrived on the global map.

David Cameron said that he admires ex-UK PM Rishi Sunak. "He is very hard-working and capable. Sunak managed to bring down inflation and should be proud of his small tenure."

The former UK Prime Minister said that India might well be in a position to mediate in the Russia-Ukraine crisis. He also emphasised that Russia can't be allowed to take land by force adding that two wrongs don't make a right.

The former UK Prime Minister emphasised that India deserves a permanent seat at the UN Security Council.

"The world needs India's perspective on the challenges it faces. An example of this is climate change," Cameron said.

Former British PM David Cameron is now speaking at the NDTV World Summit 2024 to share London's views on the 'India Century'.

"India's Century won't just be of our but also of humanity's victory. A century that prospers on everyone's talent, innovation, free of poverty and wars and heralds global peace," says PM Modi

"India has shown digital innovation and democratic values can co-exist. We have shown technology is a tool of inclusion, empowerment and transparency and not of control and division," says PM Modi.

"India is making progress on creating infrastructure and skillsets for Industry 4.0. In every global summit, the world discusses India's revolutionary digital payments ecosystem. Innovations like Aadhar, UPI, digilocker have received big commends," says PM Modi.

"India supplied vaccines during global pandemic. We do not make 'taken-for-granted' relationships. Our relations are based on trust and trustworthiness. World understands that. India's progress makes world proud and upbeat. Take the Chandrayaan's example. India has been a positive force for global good," says PM Modi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi highlighted India's artificial intelligence steps to match with global peers. He also said that AI stands for Aspirational India. He highlighted that India needs to aspire to grow faster and tap its full potential.

"India's pledge to be a developed nation by 2047 needs us to understand what we need to do. It requires a forward-looking approach. It is now a people's movement. We have taken suggestions from lakhs of people to prepare the roadmap for developed nation in 25 years," says PM Modi.

Nearly 25 crore people have escaped poverty in the last 10 years. Millions have got access to toilets and gas cylinders. Over 350 medical colleges have opened. Over 1.5 lakh startups have started and eight crore youth have taken Mudra loans. I says, this is not enough," says PM Modi.

"Today, the world in coming to India. Rating agencies have increased their growth forecasts after seeing our work in the first 125 days. When a person like Mark Mobius tells global funds to invest at least half their capital in India, it gives a big signal," says PM Modi.

"We have continued our focus on infrastructure building, providing rooftop solar to five crore houses, internship scheme for our youth, approved new industrial corridors, our forex has crossed $700 billion. The list of India's achievements is impressive. This is just in 125 days.," says PM Modi.

"While the world in dealing with multiple challenges, India is talking about the 'Indian Century'. Today, India's scale and scope in unprecedented. Our government's third term has completed 125 days. I'm here to give you what we have achieved so far," says PM Modi

The world has been grapple with tensions. It was the Covid pandemic and then its impact on the world economy. Then there were wars and the fallout on global supply chains. It was a difficult period for the world, dealing with multiple challenges and tensions," says PM Modi.

PM Narendra Modi has commenced his address at the NDTV World Summit 2024 as the keynote speaker.

"India is filling a vacuum and offering leadership under PM Modi. The emergence of global south is also a testimony of these changing times. It is within this context, NDTV presents this world summit," says Sanjay Pugalia.

"Despite tectonic shifts in global order, India under PM Modi's leadership remains extremely stable and championing the cause of world peace. Our influence continues to expand, geopolitical dynamics and economic landscapes," said Sanjay Pugalia.

NDTV Network Editor-in-chief Sanjay Pugalia has commenced his speech at the start of the NDTV World Summit 2024 – The India Century.

• Prime Minister Narendra Modi

• S. Jaishankar, External Affairs Minister

• Dasho Tshering Tobgay, Prime Minister, Bhutan

• David Cameron, Former Prime Minister, Britain

• Prof. Paul Romer, Nobel Laureate in Economics and former Chief Economist of the World Bank

• Sunil Bharti Mittal, Founder and Chairman, Bharti Enterprises

• Mark Mobius, Chairman, Mobius Emerging Opportunities Fund

• William Dalrymple, author and historian

• Ashok Malik, Partner and Chair of India Practice, The Asia Group

• Ramesh Damani, veteran market investor

• Vikram Rai, CEO, GE Aerospace, South Asia

• Shraddha Kapoor, Actress

• Suriya, actor and director

• Adit Palicha, CEO and Co-Founder, Zepto

• Baba Kalyani, Chairman and MD, Bharat Forge

• Ajay Shriram, Chairman and MD, DCM Shriram

• Sunita Reddy, MD, Apollo Hospitals Group

• Syed Akbaruddin, former Permanent Representative of India to the UN

• Dr. Philipp Ackermann, German Ambassador to India and Bhutan

• Kenneth H. da Nobrega, Ambassador of Brazil to India

• Prasanna Mohile, National Head, Corporate Affairs, Pernod Ricard India

• Balakrishnan Shankar, Dean, School of Engineering, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham

• Suresh Kodur, Director, Academia Industry Partnership, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham

• Kartikey Hariyani, Founder and CEO, ChargeZone and BILLIONe

The NDTV Group is set to host the NDTV World Summit 2024 – The India Century, on Oct. 21 and Oct. 22. Prime Minister Narendra Modi will inaugurate the event, alongside other prominent Indian and global figures.

NDTV, carrying on its tradition of leading innovation in media, will launch the 'NDTV World' news channel at the summit, with the tagline, "Seeing the World from Where India Stands."

NDTV World will aim to be a leading voice from Asia and India on the global stage.

On Day 1, apart from PM Modi, notable speakers at the summit include External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar, Bharti Airtel Chairman Sunil Bharti, Bhutan Prime Minister Dasho Tshering Tobgay, market veteran Ramesh Damani, Nobel laureate Paul Romer, expert investor Mark Mobius, and actress Shraddha Kapoor, among others.