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Columbia Business School, New York, April 1 2011: About 250 people from all walks of life, some of whom are intimately involved in India's growth story, gathered at the Columbia Business School for its 7th Annual India Business Conference on Friday, April 1.

All in all, I found the conference to be very enlightening, the panel of experts were highly informed and the organizers were extremely friendly and helpful. The networking breaks were very useful in following up with the panelists and finding common interests with the fellow participants. I highly commend the Columbia Business School students and advisor faculty for organizing "An Honest Conversation on India".

The noted keynote speakers and panelists shared their experiences on the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead for India" and fielded spirited questions from the audience.

Professor Sudhakar Balachandran in his opening remarks set the theme of the conference as "an honest conversation on India", not a "pep rally" as many business conferences on India usually are. He said 8% growth means lot of radical changes so much so that you may not recognize your home town if you have been absent for more than 3 months. His message was "be the change you want".

Professor Hitendra Wadhwa asked the audience to consider "Am I corruptible? If not, why not? Is it due to fear of being caught or are you enjoy the journey of being good ". The latter motivation creates a more stable situation.

Citing Singapore as a shining example, Mr. Deven Sharma, the President of Standard and Poor's, stressed the importance of good governance rather than the assets as the central reason for a flourishing economy. He said S&P provides rating for 1 million issues worth 32 Trillion dollars of debt every year. He strives to bring transparency for investors so they can make informed decisions. He asked the entrepreneurs to carve their own path with a clear sense of purpose. For India, S&P is making a difference by making it easy for businesses to have access to capital markets.

Mr. Bhavdeep Singh, the ex CEO of Fortis Healthcare shared his experiences when he moved to India from New York and how strongly the environment affects the behavior in a short time. He said there is big buzz about individual, corporate and social responsibility in India but a wide gap exists between talk and implementation. However, the direction of movement is right. One of his recurring messages was Indians have lot of education, theoretical knowledge but not enough practical skill to do the jobs for a growing economy: how hotels are run, how trains are run, how the hospitals are run .....

Describing in detail his intimate involvement with India for the past 20 years, Mr. Ron Summers, the President of US India Business Council, said US, Europe and Japan used to be the "world". Now the Indians, even at the bottom of pyramid have an opportunity to taste the prosperity. Answering a question from the audience, he said, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu present the biggest opportunities for the investors and the business men.

There were multiple breakout sessions. Here are some highlights.

1. Value Investing

Although India's economy is rapidly expanding, the investors are facing inflationary environment with high volatility and stretched valuations. There is huge excess capacity, relentless competition and low profitability. In this scenario, can one still find value?

Yes, according to the assembled panel.

For the next 30-40 years, an increasing youth and middle class population with associated increase in per capita income and aspirations will continue to drive the demand for more goods and services in India. Government initiatives like UID (Universal Identification) will create huge opportunities, especially in the rural areas.

2. Media Plenary Session

Professor Sree Sreenivasan moderated a lively discussion on how India’s coverage of India has changed in Media over the years. Using images, anecdotes and personal experiences, Mr. Bobby Ghosh, TIME's deputy International director, presented a slide show on coverage of India and the media headlines for the last 50 years. The slide show can be viewed at sajaforum.org

The other panelists including S. Kalita, cofounder of LiveMint.com, and Stephanie Mehta, Executive Editor of Fortune magazine, shared their experiences of the role of Media in India.

Rather than showing Paris Hilton on the front pages of newspapers, India must show greater interest in covering global events for it to seek a bigger voice in world affairs. Touching on McKinsey's Rajat Gupta case, the panel expressed their concern on having only one journalist from Indian media covering the story in NY City.

3. Private Equity and Venture Capital

This panel focused on exploring the idea of what success in emerging markets looks like. Is a different skill set required to succeed in closing deals in India? Although India is an attractive destination for private equity funds, the panel noted that substantial risks remain.

4. Entrepreneurship

Changing life styles, strong economic growth, government incentives, and technology advances make entrepreneurship in India an attractive proposition. "Whether you want to deliver tooth paste to homes or deliver Mercedes at the home", there is an opportunity waiting for you in India.

Most young people in India aspire to be entrepreneurs, whether it relates to expansion of a family business, within a large organization or a startup. The panel discussed the challenges in each of these situations and shared their thoughts on the biggest opportunities in answers to audience questions. One panelist noted "Acceptability, Affordability, Access" as the key to success whereas another considered "Convenience, Sustainability and Scalability" as a good business proposition.

5. Health care Industry in India

Debjit Ghosh, Managing Director of Analysis Group, said that India spends between 5-6% of its GDP on healthcare (compared to 8-9% in Europe and 16% in US). The spending in India will increase to 12-13% of the GDP by 2015. The Indian healthcare market is growing rapidly and expected to be a US$ 280 billion industry by 2020. The drugs and pharmaceuticals sector with a 20% growth has attracted foreign direct investment worth US$ 1.82 billion between 2000 and 2010 while hospitals and diagnostic centers have received FDI worth US$ 955.10 million in the same period.

The noted panel members, involved in day to day decision making presented an in-depth view of the challenges facing the Indian Health care market. In terms of Access and Affordability, unmet need is staggering, perhaps as large has 700 million people do not have access to adequate health care.

Amit Patel, Senior Vice President at Dr. Reddy's Lab, said the growth of Pharma is probably underestimated. With over 37 million diagnosed, India is already the Diabetes Capital of the world. As a result, opportunities in the Pharma industry are huge. The challenge is to make products and services relevant to India's unique situation.

Another panelist pointed out there is a vaccination available for Cervical Cancer but the awareness and the acceptability needs to be raised to make use of it effectively. Attrition rate among the medical service providers was seen as a big problem. A sad and astonishing statistics was revealed: in Indian hospitals, 2/3 of the patients are males while only 1/3 are females. Why?

Compared to the internal needs, opportunity in medical tourism is like a drop in the bucket. In answer to a question from the audience, Mr. Bhavdeep Singh said that India needs able administrators with people, financial and management skills.

Dipali Talwar, senior director at Pfizer, said there is a huge opportunity in making use of mobile phones, SMS to provide health education, diagnostics, and prevention of 'fake drugs'. Another opportunity is to make available to labs and hospitals refurbished medical equipment such as MRI scanners.

Student Organizers of the India Business Conference	Nilesh Shah - Envision Capital, Nitin Bajaj - Fidelity India Value Fund, Prof. Bruce Greenwald, Ramdeo Agrawal - Motilal Oswal and Amitabh Singhi - Surefin Investments
Participants listening to the experts	Raj Dabhi, Sales Exective, and Mansoor Al Mansoor, Commercial Development Manager of Etihad Airways
Ron Somers, President USIBC and Charles Kay, Co-President Warburg Pincus with Professor Suresh Sundaresan of Columbia University	Atul Kumar of Bihar Society to Launch 'Patna Special' edition of India Business and Travel Guide