Convocation Address by Sh. YASHWANT SINHA, Hon'ble Union Finance Minister, Govt. Of India on 27^th July,1999

As the new global economy takes shape creative entrepreneurship has a critical role to play. It is obvious that most of the ideas that determine entrepreneurial principles and business decisions in the past shall have to make way for new practices. Accordingly, entrepreneurial activities will change in the years to come. Technocrats and professionals, equipped with knowledge and state-of-art technology, shall replace the traditional business people. This new generation of Managers will mould Indian industry. And technical education will acquire a new dimension as Internet technologies become significant in determining growth and prosperity of business.

Indian business has been traditionally dominated by family enterprise. However, the changes I mentioned will alter Indian business by creating many new enterprises dealing in new products, possessing new technology and capital sources, employing new personnel and functioning in new, unexplored markets. It is here that the modern generation of entrepreneurs have a vital role to perform. They can take advantage of liberalisation and economic restructuring by harnessing application of new skills and abilities at the grass root levels.

At this juncture, I would like to point out two traits of Indian business which, unfortunately, have not served the industry well in the past. First, several entrepreneurs seem to be too complacent. There are instances of overconfidence leading to over-ambitions expansions and diversification into unrelated lines. These are mistakes that Indian entrepreneurs cannot afford. They must be aware of the changing circumstances arising from emergence of new products, technologies and competition and concentrate their efforts in carefully selected products and markets.

Second, a section of Indian industry fears that Indian enterprises can never expect to compete on equal terms with their foreign counterparts. It is true that MNCs have sizeable resources for deployment in production and marketing but Indian industry has decades of industrial and entrepreneurial experience. In our local markets this invaluable experience can enable Indian firms to develop effective strategies. Instead of fearing competition Indian business must realise the opportunities created by Indian markets. The new managers of today, endowed with skills imparted by the technical institutes of the country, can successfully carve out niches for their enterprises, at home and abroad.

But in doing so, the entrepreneurs must keep in mind the basic rules of the game. High competence has to be matched by high levels of integrity. Organisations of entrepreneurs, like chambers of commerce and various associations, have to be vigilant and ensure that entrepreneurship is well-focused and truly professional. Well-groomed, educated and carefully selected entrepreneurs, such as yourselves, are our future leaders and must conduct themselves accordingly.

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