Bengaluru  : Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC), today conducted a one-day conclave. in the city titled ‘BCIC Leadership Conclave 2023’ with the theme ‘India – Its Leadership and the shift underway’. The aim of the conclave was to provide a forum for leaders to learn from each other, explore leadership development strategies and discuss industry. Setting the context Krishna Kumar R, Chairman, E-Commerce, Retail, Logistics and Warehouse Expert Committee BCIC said that leadership can address the existing gaps in equitable progress, labour productivity and agriculture among other areas.  During the conclave BCIC launched its in-house magazine ‘E-Synergy’.

In his welcome address, Mr. Jairaj K, IAS Retd., Former Additional Chief Secretary, Government of Karnataka said, “A leader should have four E’s, namely energetic, energise, execution excellence and a strong sense of ethics. The need of the hour is to move the agenda forward constructively and progressively for nation development. The purpose of this conclave is to disseminate ideas and create a leadership culture that can be sustained and fostered in India.”

In her inaugural address, Padma Shri. Smt. Nivedita R Bhide, National Vice President, Vivekananda Kendra, Kanyakumari said, “We need to be rooted in ourselves to be able to deliver deep rooted leadership, which does not bend or crack with changing situations.  The basic thing about leadership is to have the ability to transmit vision and values through the channel of love and respect and real sustainable development through deep rooted leadership will be possible only if it is based on culture. It is important to compete with oneself to excel and take forward the spirit of service in the spirit of nation building. We work extensively in Arunachal Pradesh, and I invite corporates to consider investing and setting up units in the state for the development of the region and the nation.”

Delivering the keynote address, Sudhanshu Mani, Innovator of Vande Bharat (Train 18) and former GM, Integral Coach Factory, Perambur, Chennai said, “Railways is at a springboard for quantum growth today and is six to eight times cleaner and greener than road or air. India is far ahead of any other country in terms of electrification and will soon be 100% electric. This has been possible only through effective leadership and vision. To accomplish anything, you need first and foremost to have vision, leadership, will, determination, planning, resources and overall, love whatever you do; love your organization, and love your people. Leadership with empathy, passion and a sense of purpose can transform an organization from doing more of the same to doing something new. It is also important to remember that no organization will go anywhere if it does not respect its women, and not merely in lip service but in action. Never let the fire of your dreams die, wait patiently for the opportunity.” Speaking about what needs to be done in railways, he said, “While the government recognizes the potential of the railways in India’s growth and has boosted investment from Rs. 50,000 crores to Rs. 2.6 lakh crore, railways currently hold only 27% share in logistics. This needs to be a core focus area and efforts need to be concentrated on bringing down logistics cost to GDP. Also, if we are to believe that we will be ‘aatmanirbhar’ by 2047, more attention has to be given on how we transport common Indians. It is also projected that by 2047, fifty more Indian cities will have metro rail services.”

Speaking on why and how India holds an edge and potential in manufacturing, Kamla Bali, President and Managing Director, Volvo India Group said, “Manufacturing currently is 15 to 17% of India’s GDP and despite concerted efforts from various governments the needle has not moved for the last 25 years. There is currently an opportunity to triple our manufacturing sector from the current USD 400 billion to USD 1.2 trillion. For India’s economy to progress it is important that the contribution of manufacturing increases. We cannot become an economic world power in one sector alone, we need contributions from manufacturing, services, and agriculture to progress and compete on a global scale. Three pillars, if addressed correctly, will boost manufacturing in the country. The first is the domestic ecosystem, which includes ease of doing business and policies; secondly, firm level competitiveness or how competitive are Indian companies on a global scale. It is here that we need to encourage and develop MSME’s as 80% of manufacturing comes from this sector and unfortunately most MSME lack the resources and vision to scale; and lastly the Global ecosystem where the government plays a key role in FTA’s and enabling access to global markets”

BCIC leadership conclave 2023 witnessed the participation of delegates from government, PSUs, startups, corporate and academia. Other speakers included Chandru Kalro, Managing Director, TTK Prestige Ltd who deliberated on ‘Leadership in Consumer Durables – Discretionary and non-discretionary spends in a growing market’, T N Hari, Co-Founder, Artha School of Entrepreneurship who spoke on ‘Transformation of startups – Evolution and Leadership of startups in India’, Shekar Viswanathan, Former Vice Chairman & Whole Time Director, Toyota Kirloskar Motor who elaborated on ‘Transformational leadership – Toyota – A Case Study for the World’, Mr. Kandaswamy Bharathan, Joint Managing Director, Kavithalayaa Productions Pvt Ltd who spoke on ‘Lessons in Excellence from Creative Industries – a leadership perspective’, Dr. Chetan Singai, Academic Lead and Associate Professor, Chanakya University, Bengaluru National Education Policy (NEP)  who spoke on How India aspires to grow leadership qualities in the budding minds, Harish H V, Founder and Managing Director, ECube Investment Advisors who spoke on ‘Role of India in sustainability and clean energy’ and  Manu Saale, Managing Director & CEO, Mercedes-Benz Research and Development India who spoke on ‘Leadership – Global awareness and ability to foster an innovative culture in branding of premium segment’.