THE TALK
India crossed UK’s GDP in 2019. It was not God’s will that it should take 72 years for 1.3 billion Indians to cross the GDP of 66 million Britishers; it took us that long because of our economic choices after 1947. Nonetheless, our progress on total GDP has been interesting; there are now only 4 countries ahead of us. But our progress on GDP per capita is embarrassing; there are currently 138 countries ahead of us.
The economic pain from COVID reminds us that per capita GDP matters more for our citizens than GDP. The talk will take a look at the pre-existing conditions of the Indian economy, what explains those conditions, and what policy can do to change the status quo.
Manish Sabharwal, Co-founder Teamlease Services
Manish Sabharwal is co-founder of Teamlease Services. The listed company has about 200,000 employees in 5000 cities, is implementing India’s first vocational university and operates India’s largest national PPP apprenticeship program. The company has hired 17 lakh employees over the last 15 years.
In 1996 he co-founded India Life, an HR outsourcing company that was acquired in 2002 by a listed US company called Hewitt Associates. Consequently, he was CEO of Hewitt Outsourcing (Asia) based in Singapore.
Manish is a member of the National Skill Mission, Central Advisory Board of Education and has served on various policy committees for education, employment and employability. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the Comptroller and Auditor General of India (CAG) and on the Board of Directors of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
He is Managing Trustee of the New India Foundation that offers fellowships for writing books about post-1947 India and is a columnist for The Indian Express. He got his MBA from The Wharton School and is an alumnus of Shriram College, Delhi and Mayo College, Ajmer.
Manish writes and speaks frequently on policy matters and is highly respected for his clear thinking and analysis.
