Wooing billionaires & HNIs

India needs to get its billionaires to invest in the country, and its millionaires to return to boost growth

- R JAGANNATHAN

With the external environment for trade, investment and security rapidly deteriorating since the advent of Donald Trump and two endless wars, India has its work cut out to drive growth and jobs.

Exports are not going to shine any time soon, and defence and security requirements will demand greater investments at home, driven hopefully by domestic sources of capital.

From the escalating nature of Mr Trump’s actions against India, and his ever-widening set of demands, starting with trade concessions (mostly conceded) and then going on to levying extortionate tariffs for our purchases of Russian oil, including 100 per cent on non-generic pharma products and even films made outside the United States (not to speak of the $100,000 levy on new H-1B visas), one conclusion is inescapable: This goes far beyond one man’s whimsicality. Somewhere, the US Deep State has quietly joined the action.

It is now clear that the US sees India as a future threat and would not like to aid its rise, which would apply to China as well. Both the reigning superpower and its challenger are now going to try and slow us down. India’s rise will have to be driven by different global alliances, and, more importantly, by our own internal strengths.

We need large amounts of patient capital coming into technology (artificial intelligence, et al), defence, infrastructure, manufacturing, and even basic areas like quality education and affordable healthcare. While domestic investment may pick up if the economy rebounds after a fiscal consumption boost, we cannot expect venture capital and private equity alone to pick up the slack. True patient capital can only come from government and domestic investors with deep pockets.