Narayana Murthy: ‘China has 6x GDP of India. We are no global leader’

Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy stated at the ELCIA Tech Summit 2024 on Friday that India is far behind China in becoming the world leader or manufacturing hub.

Murthy said, “These (hub, global leader) are all big words that we shouldn’t use. China has already become the factory of the world. Around 90% of things in supermarkets and at-home depots in other countries are manufactured in China. They have six times the GDP of India. It is too audacious of us to say India will become the manufacturing hub,” 

Explaining why India has a long way to go on the manufacturing journey, Murthy said for the IT sector, the success of business primarily depends on exports.

Murthy's Suggestions:

However, to foster manufacturing growth in India, Murthy suggested entrepreneurs must learn to assess the market and estimate the potential size they can capture, and the government must improve transparency and accountability.

Murthy said that we rely heavily on India for manufacturing, with most of the manufacturing being done domestically and with a significant role played by the government in its success. However, there is still room for improvement in the areas of response time, transparency, accountability, speed, and excellence in public governance in India, according to Murthy.

He also stated that entrepreneurs need to learn how to assess the market and estimate the potential size they can capture. They must be able to create simple mathematical models to provide greater value compared to other market ideas. 

As usual, online users are showing mixed reactions to Murthy's latest comments.

One user once wrote, "Narayana Murthy Shares Economic Formula For India To Surpass China. generating millions of employment opportunities annually along with disposable income. How much salary is paid to Infosys employees for their disposable income?"

Another user commented, "People who compare India and China need to watch this. We're barely at $3Tn. China is sitting at $19T. And we get pissed when Narayana Murthy tells us to work harder. Wages increase when workers are skilled. Vietnam and China are examples of that. So please don't BS."

A third user recently replied, "Is Narayana murthy working 70 hours?"