Government should focus on ways to increase employment and employability: CP Gurnani, Tech Mahindra

CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra India, talks about his expectations with Union Budget 2021-22, the growth outlook for Tech Mahindra in FY22, 5G auction and changes that should be brought at policy level during a candid chat with Swati Khandelwal, Zee Business in the run-up to the Union Budget 2021. Excerpts:

Q: What are your expectations from the Union Budget 2021-22 especially for the IT sector?

A: The biggest output of the budget is that the government gives a report card on its balance sheet and the financial performance. At the same time, it also talks about its priorities and the sectors where it wants to increase its expenditure. In short, it highlights its focus areas. For the IT sector, I think, the Prime Minister and the Finance Minister, should pay attention to three things and they are:

See Zee Business Live TV Streaming Below:

(i) How we can increase our employment and employability: If we consider it as an output that today we are 4.50 million workers and are making exports of around $200 billion. In being a 5 trillion economy, we have said that the export should be increased to $350 billion and there is a need to find ways to increase it.

(ii) Clearly, India has done extremely well in the services sector and slight momentum has been created for the start-ups and it will grow further. But, I think, a good investment is still needed for products and platforms because the real differentiator comes due to your product and platform strengths.

(iii) To keep the service sector competitive, the government should cooperate us a bit so that we can get an equitable advantage in the SEZs (Special Economic Zone) and Working from Home. This will definitely help us in moving towards $350 billion. But I can only say that I believe that when India will progress and India's IT and technology consumption will increase, it will benefit the Indian IT sector.

Q: How promising the calendar year 2021 or financial year 2021-22 looks to you for Tech Mahindra and what growth is expected vis-a-vis last few years?  

A: Our results will be out in a couple of days and on the occasion, we will talk more about the company. Right now, I can only say that the IT sector needs to run faster because there is a tailwind in the market because digitalization is happening, whether it is a general store or a lady who is making pickles in Amethi. At the time, when the marketplace digitalization and App economy is increasing, and we have to take the world's market share than we have to move very fast. And to move at such a pace, we have to closely look at our technological skills. Today, artificial intelligence, machine learning is in demand and quant computing will be in demand after two years. So, I feel, there is a need to increase the expenditure on the science and technology labs that we have, the defence labs and the ongoing works related to the cybersecurity because the world needs more cybersecurity, more data monetization, more cloud computing, and a lot more of what I would call capability build-up in AI and quant computing. I feel, it has been discussed now, but if I go to the labs and see then work has to be done.

Q: If we will talk about certain changes in the policy framework and 5G will be auctioned soon. So, what our country should do at the policy level so that we can see a big participation of IT in it? What changes should be made at the policy level so that we can take lead and emerge as the world's number one IT player?

A: It is a good subject. You started with 5G, the reality is that if we are rolling out 5G, then probably, we will be after 80 countries. So, I believe that India that wants to take a lead in technology but is rolling out 5G after 80 countries is giving a disadvantage to itself. Secondly, as I have said, there is a need to revamp the entire education system to some extent. Even today, the policymakers who are sitting at the ministry of education excites a lot because I am working closely with the Mahindra University but when it comes to the implementation of the same, despite whatever independence and autonomy have been provided difficulties occurs.

So, I think, the small wrinkles, I will give you an example, in Mahindra University, I was very keen to create a law college but a course that is combined with human experience management and technology. Because the backlog of cases is a problem for India that's why I will prepare a course according to the students, but the Chancellor and Vice-Chancellor of the University said that you can't make a law college at this moment.

To which I said, I want to create a law with technology and human experience management because there is a gap in India. So, they said, sir, you will have to talk with the concerned minister. I am just trying to tell you that we all know that our backlog of legal cases is so high and overnight, we can't create too many courses, arbitrators, so the technology can only solve this. And, technology has matured today, and I think we all should talk as minor changes in execution are required in it.

I know that when I will meet with the Minister and I will be meeting with the Union Minister for Communications, Electronics and Information Technology as well as Law and Justice Ravi Shankar Prasad in a day and during the meet, I will tell him about the discussion that happened at Mahindra University and I believe that he will support it a lot. But there is a slight delay in execution.