Consumption, innovation, scaling in a digital world, building what’s next, and the role of technology in business.

Business leaders, policymakers and tech experts gathered at the fifth edition of the Fortune India Next 500 summit and discussed how focussing on these trends is important for midsize companies—often called the backbone of a nation’s economy—to get to the next level.

The summit, an annual event which celebrates the contribution of midsized companies to the economy, was held at FICCI, Federation House, New Delhi, on Friday.

In his inaugural address, Fortune India editor Sourav Majumdar set the tone for the discussions that followed by talking about the role of midsize companies in generating employment and how they have often been at the forefront of innovation.

Radhika Sridharan, partner at Bain & Company, spoke about consumption, a key driver of economic growth, and markets that are yet to be unlocked in rural India. “The upper middle income group which we expect will punch above their weight. More than 50% of consumption will be driven by that bucket. This is interesting because these are the families that can now aspire to be better and premiumise and change the shape and nature of what they buy,” she said.

On innovation and growth that can achieved through it, Achal Bakeri, chairman and MD, Symphony Limited, shared his own experience. “But we did not actually invent the air coolers, we reinvented the air coolers. That’s how I would like to say it. Our first air cooler looked like an air conditioner and something like this caught the popular imagination in the late 80s,” he said. He further spoke about the tight spots that that company was in after its initial success and it held on and weathered them.

Minister of State

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