Intro : If young Bharatiya brains innovate, conceptualise and ensure success of ideas then funds from venture capitalists across the globe will continue to pour in millions for times to come as future belongs to India due to youngistan.
Bharat is a nation of over 1.20 billion people according to 2011 census. The outcome of this census makes us little nervous as regards as our land mass and resources are concerned. Bharat, in the next two to three decades is expected to be most populace country of the world and take over China, whose area and other resources are far more than it. But in this gloomy picture there is a wide ray of hope and opportunity; Bharat is going to be a country of youngest people of world with an average age of 29 years. According to a projection there will be 464 million young people and about 64 per cent of total population in working age group. This is an abundant human resource any country can wish to have. Whereas working population of developed western countries, China and Japan will be on the verge of retirement depriving these countries of important working hours and in turn put pressure on the fiscal system. In such a situation, Bharat definitively will have an edge and a chance to grab the benefit in the form of economic development due to this huge young human resource at its disposal.
This upcoming opportunity for overall development of our country should not be exposed to impediments of lack of zeal/interest at the policy planning level and resources (financial/technical). Apart from efforts of the government at whelm to act according to circumstances and managing young Bharat, a great hope lies in the entrepreneurship capability of enthusiastic and ambitious young people.
Entrepreneurship among youth could be a prime mover of social change and meaningful economic development. Young, educated, visionary, innovator and risk taking dreamers can drive the economic system, improve industrialisation and grow service sector in Bharat. This will result in capital formation through investments. Growth of capital formation due to entrepreneurship will result in employment generation and increase in per capita income. More people will have improved standard of living, i.e. housing, food, education, better healthcare etc. Increased financial activity will be a major source of revenue for government through taxation which could be used for development projects. This will further reduce pressure on government to provide employment in government sectors.
This decade has seen many young Bharatiyas in the age group of twenty five to thirty five years, emerged from humble back grounds, passing from IITs/IIMs and other professional institutions become successful entrepreneurs. This has come only due to their grit, vision and ambition. There is a long list of youngsters who with their innovative ideas and hunger for success have convinced global venture capitalists to put their money and trust in their business start ups. These foreign investments have come mainly in IT/ITES but few other sectors too.
Make My Trip—Deep Kalra/Sachin Bhatia, Zomato—Deepinder Goyal, Housing.com—Rahul Yadav, Red Bus—P Sharma, Policy Bazzar—Yash Dahia, Myntra—Mukesh Banasal, Yatra.com—Dhruv Shringi, Just Dial—Mani VS, are few of young entrepreneurship icons of Bharat. Apart from creating business and employment many of these entrepreneurs have affected many of Bharatiya households. Quikrr—Pranay Chulet have changed the way Bharat buys/sells used goods, Flipkart—Sachin and Binny Bansal have given new online shopping dimension to Bharatiyas. The famous inverter man of Bharat, Kanwar Sachdeva—SuKam has helped Indian Middle class to endure power cuts in the energy starved country. Ola cabs—Bhavesh agarwal has transformed transportation needs of urban middle class. Not much heard Greenwave Grameen Infra—Neha Juneja helps replace old fashioned mud/smoke chullahs in rural areas. There are many more but not so famous names in entrepreneurship who are helping our country in great way by creating capital and other opportunities for fellow citizens.
The fruits of entrepreneurship are not only limited to Bharatiya middle class but much needed funds required to carry out welfare activities for poor by the government also come from them as taxes.
Apart from all the benefits and positive things about entrepreneurship there lie problems too. There can be unexpected closure of business or investment due to lack of innovation, wrong business ideas and some odd government policies. There is need of qualitative technical education, social awareness, encouragement for research/innovation and engagement of successful entrepreneurs at policy planning level. The present pattern of entrepreneurship successes needs to be replicated, strengthened and made globally competitive at par with USA and China. If young Bharatiya brains innovate, conceptualise and ensure success of ideas then funds from venture capitalists across the globe will continue to pour in millions for times to come as future belongs to Bharat due to youngistan.
Sukhwinder Singh (The writer is a columnist)
