Saturday

India

India is home to 1.3 Billion people, throughout the state, there is a wide variety of religions, dialects, and much more. Currently, India has one of the fastest-growing economies in the world, and this has ramp-up since the beginning of the 21st Century. With some of their most significant spurts of growth coming about, when the rest of the world was facing a severe economic downturn in 2009 - 2013 (Prasad et al. 2018 p. 24). We classify India as having a developing world economy, by which it focuses mainly on agriculture and manufacturing sectors. Many social scientists believe that in the next 50 years, India will become a significant player in shaping the global economy. There are two main strategies that a country can use to go about influencing trade and economic policy. The first is an import-substitution method, "pro-business," where a country aims to develop its economy from within, making them self-sufficient. Many governments that enacted such policies created high tariffs for such products, thus decreasing competition in the market. This led to countries that adopted these policies to issues of having their currency devalued. Throughout Latin America, we saw a rise in this method in the 1960s, which caused relief to be sent to many countries by the IMF and others (Street & James, 1982). India, in the 1960s, shifted towards a more pro-business take on how to manage its economy. This led to India becoming on the verge of bankruptcy after the excessive borrowing done internally and internationally (Saxena & Cerra, 2000). This policy did not allow businesses to grow more productive but diversify in other industries. The other method used is an export-led growth "pro-market," in which a country opens itself for international trade. Many countries in South Asia, used an export-led approach which created a vast amount of opportunities for them to become hugely successful, and South Korea is just one example (Grabowski et al. 2013, p.178). 

Now, India has shifted towards this form of growth in the 1990s, in a study by Sahni & Atri (2012), it has shown that the restructuring of the economy has "enhanced the competitiveness of the Indian industry." Economists have all agreed that a country that exports have a positive correlation with economic growth, which is a catalyst to garner foreign capital. The Modi government has achieved levels of about 7.5% GDP growth since the first term, but members of the UN at least 8% - 10% growth ("Export-Led Growth," 2019). India has quite a few pressing matters that it needs to attend to, but the policies seem to be more relevant to all of India's stakeholders.

An export-oriented company is one that is independent of the state, and that firms utilize in trying to export their goods to the rest of the world. These companies are significant to the business channel side of finding overseas buyers and the market research/trends happening across the globe. Reliant Limited Industries, which is one of the largest firms in India, with it employing over 30,000 individuals. Reliant has done so much great work in India, as it became the first company in India to exceed $100 billion market capitalization. An international organization has also given it a "BB+" credit rating. The company owns businesses that specialize in ranging from energy to natural resources. Reliant can be compared to Alphabet Inc. by the impact it has had in the United States. Companies like Reliant are essential to the entire country because businesses and individuals use the services. Focusing specifically on the petroleum industry in India, it consumes about 4.5 million barrels per day as of 2016. Also, it has the third-largest oil consumption, with it being behind the US and China (Worldometers, 2020) and with India, having such a deep interest in this field.

Good governance is how we can measure public institutions and how effectively they are in implementing decision making. This is quite important to corporations such as Reliant; they are significantly invested in India for the long-term. Some of the pillars that are important to my organization are the control of corruption and transparency. Control of crime is the misuse of public office for private gain, and this problem is identified throughout every country and developed in developing countries. In an article done by Jon S.T Quah, he discusses the ongoing issues in India's fight against corruption. Quah categorizes them as having anti-corruption laws and several fighting corruption agencies. In India, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) was formed in 1963. The author claims the CBI has been quite ineffective because of its inability to conduct an independent investigation. It concludes that India needs to curb corruption to reach maximum potential (Quah, 2011). This is quite important as there is a direct link between the control of crime and the business investment climate. Transparency is also vital to many business sector companies, as it ensures that the government has nothing to hide for its constituents and that businesses can paint the actual picture. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is the official auditor of the Indian government. They review the receipts and expenditures of the Government of India and the state governments. Transparency and control of corruption go together, as lower rates of corruption yields higher levels of transparency. In the case of Reliant, it has been a tough road for them, engaging in transparency and corruption. They have faced many allegations and scams as late as 2013. These scams are related to insider trading, as there were controversial issues with Reliant offering fake shares (Shrivastava, 2009). With Reliant, being one of India's largest corporations, it must provide more genuine trust to India's citizens. With recent events, COVID-19 has caused trouble throughout the world, forcing everyone to stay home, making negotiating difficult. We aimed to use this time to promote India's growth and not mainly on what to do about the virus. The oil and gas industry has numerous high-profile cases involved in corruption, but it's due to the risk in these emerging markets. Many countries involved in these markets deal with significant amounts of natural resources are located in Africa, the Middle East, and Asia. A study was done by Transparency International to view the perception of foreign bribery. The oil and gas market ranked 17th out of 19 sectors, with a perception score of 6.2 (Transparency International, 2011). This statistic by TI indicated that there is a strong possibility of corruption infiltrating the Indian petroleum industry. When trying to solve this political puzzle, the bad guys always create new methods. In the oil industry, it has its highs and lows, and some individuals take advantage of the opportunities by theft or pilferage. With the industry having both public and private sector employees, this can cause some issues. 

India's first law that addresses corruption in the Prevention of Corruption Act (PCA) was enacted in 1988. The PCA addresses concerns of corruption in government agencies and public sector companies (Chan & Ho, 2018). The act contains similar aspects that the United States legislation has as well as which puts both parties at fault. As of 2018, the law has some additional amendments which allow for more robust prosecution and punishing these individuals. The industry employs about 50% of the Indian workforce. The industry also creates about 18% of India's GDP. I am not trying to convey that the sector doesn't need the money, but we could use it as a period to strengthen other areas. The coronavirus has had an impact on the entire Indian economy, and many industries have become reliant on the aid money to help during this trying time. India has risen through the ranks in terms of economic development; there has been an average of seven percent growth rate for the past decade. Countries like China and the United States are continuing down the path of the service-led economy, both of these countries have recognized the robust development taking place in India. Many economists are starting to acknowledge that India can put India on a fast-track to a manufacturing economy. Also, the manufacturing sector has the potential to earn $1 trillion by 2025, and this would put the country in the top three of growth manufacturing economies as its attractive demographics have a population of about 1.3 billion people, and with countries in the region having a fertility rate of 3.56 in Pakistan and 2.2 in India.