India must build resilience before next crisis, says PM’s principal secretary PK Mishra

PK Mishra, Principal Secretary to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the PMO, said if the West Asia crisis prolongs, India must remain very alert to any situation. “We have the capability, we have the technology, and we have the policy framework in place,” he said on Wednesday.

Speaking at an annual State Bank of India Banking & Economics Conclave, Mishra said, “Resilience is not created in the middle of a crisis. It is built in the period of relative calm when there is time to reform, strengthen institutions, and create buffer.”

“The crisis instrument which we have been using during a crisis, whether in Ukraine or pandemic or so on, the structure, the instrument which we used and used successfully was built when the period was there was no crisis. It was built for a decade or so, and that worked,” he said.

“India has already acquired considerable economic weight. The task of the coming decades is to convert that weight into deeper productivity,” Mishra said in a virtual address.

“The task before the financial sector is larger than financing the next year of growth. It is to finance the next generation of Indian enterprise. And ultimately, it is to convert India’s scale into prosperity, its potential into capability,” Mishra said in a virtual address to bankers.

“India must move from manufacturing to design and innovation. Our capital markets, our venture ecosystem, and our banks must be equally willing to finance ideas and not merely factories,” he added.

Earlier in the day, SBI Chairman Challa Sreenivasulu Setty said the next wave of global investment is likely to be shaped by areas such as sunrise sectors including renewables, semiconductors, battery storage, green hydrogen, precision robotics, biotechnology, and frontier project technologies.

“India has the core talent, entrepreneurial energy, and technological capabilities to participate meaningfully in these sectors. The larger opportunity lies in translating these strengths into businesses, technologies, manufacturing capabilities, and intellectual property that can command a global premium. This is also where the financial sector has an important role to play,” Setty added.