So what did the Silicon dudes, collectively representing around $500 billion in purchasing power, think of the case placed before them by the self-made, roughhewn yet charismatic Indian Prime Minister — the man with a penchant for the dramatic?
From the looks of it, they thought he was kosher. Someone they could talk turkey with. Of course they are pretty constrained in what they can do. They are businessmen — oddly all of them are men. Inflating their egos and appealing to them for "help" can soften them a bit. But, ultimately, business folks live and die by the shareholder wealth.
The good news is that India fits in well even on this metric. We have the numbers. We shall be the most populous country by 2030. More importantly, each of us would also have decent purchasing power by then — Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants each of us to have $13,500 per year in today's value terms.
This is improbable. But even if we get to just half of that, which is possible, we would be as "well off" as China is today. That is not very rich by the standards of the rich, but definitely upper middle class — no mean achievement for a country whose diplomats still, habitually swear by the begging bowl approach in international negotiations.
An additional $50 trillion in purchasing power over 15 years makes all business drool — not just in the Silicon Valley. The annual revenues of the Fortune 500 companies is $ 12.5 trillion — a tidy sum that's more than nine times India's GDP. Okay, so now we know why all those kind business folk turned up dutifully to be with
Mr Modi. But why then did the Indian Prime Minister bother to go through with the dance? After all, if India is such an irresistible market, then shouldn't the Fortune 500s be rushing in to occupy the 500,000 apartments which lie unoccupied today in India?
Two factors explain the asymmetry between the hubris at home and the fizz abroad.
First, Team India is a big ship. Stoking the fire in its oversized belly and changing course takes time. Until the crumbling "plumbing" is fixed, citizens will react to the bad smells reaching them. Fixing the leaks is still a work in progress as illustrated by the sermons delivered to the Prime Minister at his meet with the Fortune 500 crowd.
In contrast, business overseas view visitors much the same as co-passengers on a flight. This goes for both the older, preachy Fortune 500, who are classic bullies, or the more gentle, other-worldly yogis in Silicon Valley, adept at the "rope trick" of quietly raking in billions without a bottomline to support the extraordinary valuations of their stock. They will engage whilst the flight lasts, knowing they can end the conversation when they please. But anything more substantive is only on mutually acceptable terms — these being the "bottomline" for the "sunset community" in the Fortune 500 group and the "top line" for the Silicon geeks.
India presents more immediate potential for the "top line" obsessed Silicon entrepreneur. Their escalator is founded on growing the business, not solely much on growing profits. This is not to say that there are no profits to be made in India. But Asian companies from Japan, China, and Korea in sunset industries, are better placed to be responsive to the fragmented Indian market than a Fortune 500 corporate, which survive on scale not agility.
It is no wonder then that whilst Prime Minister warmed up instinctively to the Silicon Valley crowd. The interaction with the "500 dinosaurs" was stiff, formal and somewhat resigned, as in a divorce case, where both sides talk at each other rather than with each other.
Thankfully, Silicon Valley is more vital for India's urgent "development" needs than the czars of Wall Street, Detroit or Houston. San Jose and New Mexico is about disruptive innovation. This "value" shapes business processes, supply lines and determines who the next "legend" will be. This resonates well with the "individualistic" Indian.
The electron is the best antidote for exclusion — the proverbial mongoose to the snake of elite privilege and patronage. Digital access democratises access to information and knowledge especially if customised in India's 22 languages. Connecting 600,000 villages and all educational institutions with broadband will provide Internet access to all.
Nandan Nilekani's UID is a game changer which is being actively expanded for the direct transfer of subsidy and to ease public transactions. Its power lies in its ability to target public interventions narrowly, much like a micro-surgeon.
Digital access enhances communication and remote participation even in local events, a feature crucial for a country of domestic migrants, where 25 per cent of the people live away from where they were born.
The proposed digital archiving of individual data-identity, health and education records in secure "lockers" liberates the marginalised in particular who have no permanent residence, live in insecure places and are frequently required to produce these documents for temporary jobs and to access public services.
For the elite personalised service via human interaction elevates their own sense of entitlement. But a dalit, whose very shadow is abhorrent to some, may prefer an impersonal, indeed robotic, neutral, service provider, like an ATM which is available 24×7 to suit varying work schedules. Street dwellers will be the first to benefit from lower pollution if tele-meetings and remote work cuts the need to commute. The primary beneficiaries of tele-medicine will be remote villages where all they have today is the village "Bengali" doctor.
Information trawled from social media by specialist apps helps to counter terror, manage disasters better and get real time feedback on the quality of public services.
Digital India is the key to critical aspects of inclusive development, enhancing the "efficiency" of public investment and more "decent" jobs.
But this is not the real reason why Prime Minister Modi is happiest talking "new" technology. Behind his stern "Samurai" exterior lies a romantic, who believes that empowered individuals — the quintessential "Marlboro" person can change the world. To do this San Jose is a far better door to walk through than Wall Street. Don't be surprised if you see him at the "Burning Man" festival — the new technology parallel to the old world Davos — a fun meet of the free spirited and those who imagine a better world, held annually in the Nevada desert, over the Labor day weekend.
(The writer is an Advisor to Observer Research Foundation, Delhi)
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