The first CEO talk in the new academic year turned out to be a great learning experience for the entire batch of XIMB students as they got to interact with Mr SK Mohapatra, CEO, Dhamra Port Co Ltd.

Mr SK Mohapatra, who has recently retired from the IAS, addressed the student gathering by stating that India was well on the way onto manufacturing excellence, especially after the liberalization policies of early 1990’s.

He added, “Signing the General agreement on trade and tariff (GATT) has no doubt given an impetus to Indian manufacturers for improving their performance, allowing free import of goods and services.”

He highlighted India’s vast human resource as a definite advantage in the era of globalization but pointed out that a multi skilled labour force was the need of the hour.

He added that while other sectors in India had witnessed reforms, the labour sector remained excluded from these reforms. As a result, the final surge towards industrial dominance was not happening.

He also highlighted the need of the infrastructure development as a key ingredient of industrial growth. Mr Mohapatra stressed on strong political will required to implement key reforms especially in power sector. Throwing light on the discrepancy in power rates between urban consumers and agricultural households, he stated non-economic reasons for the lack of privatization in the power sector. “Often political reasons come to the forefront rather than economic ones when it comes to implement crucial reforms,” added Mohapatra.

A Q&A; session was held in the end where students got to interact with Mr Mohapatra on key issues such as divestment in crucial sectors and the restructuring of social security systems prevalent in India.