Healthcare can be India’s next IT sector – Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw
Top industry captains are batting for livelihoods, as India readies to open up its economy. To save jobs, India needs to press the accelerator on further policy and regulatory reforms, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw, chairman and managing director, Biocon Ltd, said on Tuesday.
India also needs to quickly prioritize sectors that can mop up India’s huge workforce. Healthcare is one of them, she said. “There is a spotlight on healthcare. Finally, science and innovation are getting attention. The healthcare sector can be India’s next IT (information technology) sector, there is a huge employment opportunity,” she said.
IT CANNOT BE BUSINESS AS USUAL. THIS IS AN OPPORTUNITY TO USHER IN REGULATORY REFORMS.
Healthcare, she added, can create jobs at different levels, from the grassroots (primary healthcare workers) to tertiary professionals.
“The healthcare sector will also allow India to play in the self-reliance objective—in pharmaceuticals, bio-pharma, medical supplies and hospitals, among others. The sector is also capital-intensive. Unlike IT, there is a gestation period where one has to wait two years to get a payback. Third, healthcare is a huge export opportunity. But we need the same sops that the IT industry received in the past,” Mazumdar-Shaw said.
On regulatory reforms, Mazumdar-Shaw said digitization would make life easier for businesses. “It cannot be business as usual. We have been thrown into a digital world. One of the opportunities now is to bring about extensive regulatory reforms,” she said. “Today, because of virtual kind of audits and evaluations, we are able to get much faster regulatory approvals. This is an opportunity to start doing everything online and take out a lot of the transactions costs.”
Businesses must also take the sustainable development goals more earnestly, going ahead.
“Up until now, we used to look at the goals as a bunch of motherhood statements—nice to have in our annual reports. Today, more than ever, we realize that these are serious criteria without which you can’t have sustainable economic growth. I would like to look at poverty, hunger, economic equity, all the motherhood statements, in a serious way,” she concluded.
Also Read : Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw wins EY World Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 Award
Biocon ‘s executive chairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw has been named the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year 2020 (WEOY) at a virtual award ceremony held recently.
Kiran has been honoured with the world title from among a distinguished list of 46 EOY country award winners from 41 countries and territories. In EY World Award’s 20-year history, Kiran is the first woman entrepreneur from India and third Indian to win the EY World Entrepreneur of the Year Award. She is the Second woman worldwide to hold this prestigious title, following Olivia Lum of Hyflux, Singapore, who won the award in 2011.
Uday Kotak of Kotak Mahindra Bank (2014) and Narayana Murthy of Infosys Technologies (2005) are the other world title winners from India.
Kiran has previously won the EY Best Entrepreneur: Healthcare & Life Sciences Award in 2002 and was bestowed with the EY Entrepreneur of the Year India 2019 Award in February 2020 and represented India at the WEOY 2020.
In their felicitation, EY had said Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is synonymous with the Indian biotech industry and has been at the forefront of innovation through her strong investments in research.
On receiving the prestigious World title, Shaw said: “Entrepreneurship is about solving problems. My business focus is global health care and the provision of universal access to life saving medicine; however, my responsibility as an entrepreneur is greater than simply delivering value to shareholders. Wealth creation can be a catalyst for change, and all entrepreneurs have a responsibility to the world around them and the communities in which they operate. Right now, the world is looking for solutions to prevent infection with SARS-CoV-2 and treat patients with COVID-19. As the founder of a global biopharmaceutical company, I am contributing to worldwide efforts to tackle the novel coronavirus through innovative science.”
“Women also play a hugely important role in economic development, and for too long their contribution has been ignored. It’s important that we use the platform of EY World Entrepreneur of the Year to encourage more women to participate in entrepreneurial pursuits,” she added.
