We should constantly question authority

INTERVIEW NAUSHAD FORBES INDUSTRIALIST

- K. SUNIL THOMAS

NAUSHAD FORBES was the face of Indian business back in 2016, when Prime Minister Narendra Modi demonetised 86 per cent of the currency in circulation. Forbes, then president of the Confederation of Indian Industry and co-chairman of one of India's biggest engineering firms, Forbes Marshall, was forced to do a tightrope walk in handling India Inc's response to the dramatic move.

Interestingly, it also sowed the seeds of an idea for a book, on his apprehensions over India's future. The Covid-19 lockdown gave him time to put his thoughts into the book The Struggle and the Promise (Harper Business). But do not expect to find a de rigueur business success story peppered with anecdotes of interactions with the high and mighty. Forbes's focus is firmly on laying out a blueprint that will help India live up to its promise.

Even while raking in the billions, this industrialist has always had an academic bent of mind. The same academic inclination prompted him to present an articulate vision for "restoring India's potential". Excerpts from an exclusive interview:

Q/ What made you put your thoughts out there?

I could both sense [India’s] potential, and what we needed to do to tap it. [And,] from 2017, I have felt that we were not in a better shape than the previous year—this was from an economic perspective as well as from a wider cultural perspective. These were things we needed to address.

Q/ What are the worry points?

Since 2017, we started seeing greater trade protectionism and a move away from free trade which had characterised India from 1991 onward. From 1991 to 2017, India was increasingly open. But [during] 2017 to 2021, we started to turn somewhat inward.