In conversation with Mr Kishore Jayaraman – Innovation in the Economy

By UK India Business Council (UKIBC)

'Innovation is increasingly underpinning the economic development and competitiveness' says Mr. Kishore Jayaraman, President, Rolls-Royce India and South Asia in a conversation with Dr Rakhi Rashmi, Barrister England and Wales

Mr Kishore Jayaraman is the President for Rolls Royce India and South Asia. Based in New Delhi, he leads all operations and activities of Rolls-Royce in India and South Asia and pursues expanded opportunities for all Rolls-Royce businesses across the region. Mr Kishore has rich multi-faceted experience in Technology, Project Management, Commercial Operations and Business Leadership.

1. What do you see as the major innovation opportunities in each stage of the value chain, work architecture and future constructs of development in the UK-India collaborative universes?

Innovation can come in the form of a new product, technology, material or process that leads to a step change in performance or efficiency. It can involve emergence of new markets, business models or service offerings. Thus companies need to focus on innovation, skilled manpower, right cost approach and necessary infrastructure.
Rolls-Royce has a strong tradition of innovation that helps us to continually deliver value to our customers. We are embedding a culture of innovation across all businesses – civil aerospace, defence aerospace, marine, nuclear and power systems. We are looking to all our people for ideas that improve how we work and how we are organised, as well as the technology we develop and the products and services we provide.

2.Given both countries want to grow their economies through manufacturing, and related sectors such as infrastructure, services etc should we identify areas of common interest and come up with a plan to grow our industrial economies together?

UK has played a pivotal role in India’s defence modernisation and shares a strong history of mutual cooperation in sectors like technology, skill development and education. Going forward, the Make in India, Digital India and Smart Cities initiatives are a major enabler designed to facilitate investment, foster innovation, enhance skill development and build best-in-class manufacturing infrastructure.

Already more than 700 UK companies operate, process, assemble and manufacture in India, employing thousands of people. Now they are readying to ramp up activities across sectors as there are various opportunities for both domestic and foreign players to form joint ventures, open new avenues for technology transfers and joint production, and forge public private partnerships.

3.What is the best way for developing this interaction/dialogue to its next stage happen?

Both the countries are already engaged in dialogues at various levels for co-operation and collaboration in various areas such as R&D, technology, education etc. Also, the government is taking a lot of steps to enable more co-operation and partnership opportunities for businesses in both the countries. The relationship can be further deepened by:

• Sustaining strong policy dialogue with the Government of India
• Forging new partnerships with the private sector to stimulate investment, business activity and economic opportunity, working with business associations, small and medium enterprises and micro- entrepreneurs
• Working with think tanks for enabling research, debate and new approaches

4. What infrastructure mechanisms could we share or exchange to make a real difference?

There has never been a better time to collaborate with India across sectors. Today, the country offers a well-developed supply chain SME network, a growing aspirational middle class population and an existing talent pool of quality engineers. In addition, the pro-business and pro-growth government is trying to create an ecosystem that presents a significant opportunity for partnership and signals a potential shift in strategic approach towards international engagement with India. These can be easily used to foster partnership between the two countries.

5. What emerging economic opportunities in each country can we address in partnership?

Innovation is increasingly underpinning the economic development and competitiveness. Over 67% growth of the UK economy has been due to Innovation. If India meet its target of investing 2 per cent of GDP on R&D then India and UK can collaborate on various areas be it healthcare, education, aerospace, climate change, clean energy or food security.
A country of 1.2 billion people, India, is set to grow even larger in the coming decades, its purchasing power is also expected to increase – and this presents a huge opportunity not just for UK but also other developed economies to invest and collaborate with India. The government is putting in place various measures to improve the employability of Indian graduates and to position India prominently on the global higher education landscape through initiatives in skills development, digitisation, and research.

At Rolls-Royce, we believe three key things that are going to help us adopt, implement and boost a culture of innovation: the right platform, public-private partnership and building a skilled talent pool by promoting STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education.

6. What should the role of governments be in this interaction?

The rise of India presents a huge opportunity for the UK which, due to historic ties and a shared language, has a closer relationship with India than any other European country. The UK already benefits to some extent through an increased inflow of foreign direct investment, the migration of skilled workers and the access to a new consumer base for the UK’s knowledge services. The UK government also suggests that the UK needs to establish a special relationship with India, in order to tap its emerging market.


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