Special Session with Shri Mukesh Ambani "India as An Economic Super Power in 20 Years"
December 13, 2002 New Delhi

Welcome address by Shri R S Lodha, President, FICCI

Ladies and Gentlemen, today we have amongst us Shri Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries, the group which has emerged as India's Most Admired Business House, for the second successive year in a Taylor Nelson Sofres- Mode, 2002. Shri Ambani is Bachelor of Chemical Engineering from University of Bombay and MBA from the prestigious Stanford University, USA.

Shri Ambani joined Reliance in 1981 and initiated Reliance's backward integration from textiles, fibres and further into petrochemicals. In this process, he directed the creation of class manufacturing facilities involving diverse technologies that have raised Reliance's manufacturing capacities from less than a million tonnes to nine million tonnes. Credited with having brought about financial innovations in the Indian capital market, Shri Ambani pioneered India's first forays into overseas capital markets with international public global depository receipts, convertibles and bonds.

Shri Ambani directed Reliance in its efforts to raise around US $2 billion since 1991. He led the creation of the world's largest grass root petroleum refinery in India, with a capacity of 5,40,000 barrels per day integrated with petrochemicals, port and related infrastructure, at an investment of Rs. 25,000 crores. With an investment of over Rs. 36,000 crores in petroleum refining, petrochemicals, power generation, telecommunication services etc, Shri Ambani has steered the Reliance Group to its current status as India's leading petroleum-petrochemicals- power- telecom player.

Apart from being the Member of Prime Minister's Advisory Council on Trade and Industry, he is a member of Council of Scientific and Industrial Research, Board of Governors of the National Council of Applied Economic Research, Advisory Council of the Indian Bank's Association and Chairman of the Board of Trustees of The Indian Institute of Software Engineering.

Shri Mukesh Ambani was conferred 'The Entrepreneur of the Decade Award' by the Bombay Management Association in October, 2002 and has also emerged as one of the Six World Class Indian CEOs. Among various other awards, he was recipient of the 'Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award -2000, Businessman of the Year 1997, recognised as ' Global Leader for Tomorrow 1994' by World Economic Forum and named in 'Times's roster of young leaders for the new millennium' by Time Magazine 1994.

Friends, Shri Mukesh Ambani has kindly agreed to deliver a Vision Statement on "India as an Economic Super Power in 20 Years". Before inviting Shri Ambani, I would like to say a few words about the relevance and importance of today's topic. To mention a few quotes :

Late Shri Dhirubhai Ambani ji, one of the leading lights of the Indian corporate world, was confident that India will become a super power one day. To quote him, he said "I dream India of becoming a great economic super power. We can prove to the world that India can do it. That Indians are not afraid of competition. That India is a nation of achievers. If India wants to be a great nation, we must have courage to trust. This is my sincere belief."

He also dreamt of a Resurgent and prosperous India. To quote him from his Speech in The Twenty-Fourth Awarding of the Wharton School Dean's Medal , "The economy is becoming global. Politics is becoming decentralised. Empowerment of ordinary people is becoming a reality. This makes our times very exciting. From this revolution will emerge a Resurgent India. India has every reason to aspire high. No one should grudge us this ambition. We have to break the shackles that chain the energies of our people. We have to place millions of Indians at the centre of our thoughts, wherever we are; in business, in Government or in any other field, to make this dream a reality, with determination and without compromise. The results will follow. Thus, we will build a great India. India that will add to the human happiness and global prosperity. This will make our grand-children proud of us."

Mr. Keith Vaz, Member of Parliament, United Kingdom, stated that India is going to be super power very soon. However, for the same it must provide the right environment for business to develop so that it can firm up its place as a world leader. He said that India has moved from being a closed socialist economy to one favouring extreme liberalisation, with a growth rate that has increased from Hindu rate of growth of 3 per cent to a steady 5.5-6 per cent over the years and most of the Fortune 500 companies are active in India. All these were amazing changes, which had changed the attitudes of the world business community and the world at large, towards India.

To make the Indian Economy globally competitive and building India as an economic super power, HE the Prime Minister, Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee ji, has unveiled a five-point agenda which inter-alia includes education for developing a learning society, global networking, vibrant government-industry-academia interaction in policy-making and implementation, leveraging of existing competencies in IT, telecom, biotechnology, drug design, financial services, and enterprise-wide management and economic and business strategic alliances built on capabilities and opportunities. Such an agenda, according to the Prime Minister, would help leverage competencies in the above areas to make India a knowledge superpower.

Without taking any more of your time, may I now present to you Shri Mukesh Ambani, Chairman, Reliance Industries.