indian business : past, present and future address delivered by shri shaktikanta das, governor, reserve bank of india on the occasion of iconic week of azadi ka amrit mahotsav celebrations organised by the central board of indirect taxes and customs in mumbai on june 9, 2022 it is a great pleasure to address such an august gathering in this event organised by the central board of indirect taxes and customs ( cbic ), department of revenue, government of india as part of the iconic week of azadi ka amrit mahotsav celebrations. the topic i have chosen for my address today, namely, “ indian businesses : past, present and future ” will resonate with the audience here. businesses form the bedrock of an economy and on an occasion like this, it would be worthwhile to look at how indian businesses have evolved over the years. the current context of transformative changes that are altering the business landscape in india and across the world is yet another reason for choosing this theme. 2. i have structured my talk in the following order. i shall start by recounting the historical evolution of indian businesses to draw lessons for the future. i will then turn to the current scenario where i propose to highlight the tremendous opportunities that are available today for indian businesses and the challenges that they would have to contend with. i also propose to highlight aspects of corporate governance and related issues that are indispensable for a sustained performance by any entity or business. 3. historically, businesses have been the creators of wealth by bringing innovation in production and trading activities which facilitated higher productivity and better standard of living of the people. apart from creating growth and employment opportunities, thriving businesses generate vital resources through tax payments for the government to undertake welfare measures. thus, both from growth and welfare standpoints, businesses play a crucial role in overall economic development. in the words of nobel laureate in literature t. s. eliot, “ only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go. ” 1 the underlying theme of business is to explore opportunities and capitalise on them. 4. in india, business and entrepreneurship have always had a special place in our society. the history of indian business is a fascinating story and one that is closely intertwined with the political and economic history of our country. traditionally, indian businesses were rooted in local knowledge and resources that were greatly admired all over the world. during the colonial period, however, many of our businesses were faced with

, and the risk that wages and prices will rise beyond the price stability target warrants attention. the second is downside risks to overseas economies. inflation rates in the united states and europe, which were at high levels, have been steadily declining recently. however, there are uncertainties as to how the past policy interest rate hikes by overseas central banks will affect the real economy and financial activity over time. moreover, at the beginning of august 2024, data suggesting a possible slowdown in the u. s. economy triggered market developments over concerns of a sharp economic downturn, or a hard landing. attention is warranted over the risk of continued excessive movements and adjustments in financial markets - - stemming from these concerns over a slowdown in overseas economies - - exerting further downward pressure on overseas economies and eventually spreading to japan's economy. the third risk is that delayed improvement in consumer sentiment will disrupt the virtuous cycle from income to spending. households have so far been defensive about spending, mainly because the rate of increase in the price of everyday goods such as food and daily necessities has been relatively high and growth in real income has been negative. it is true that private consumption has shown resilience thanks to improvement in the income situation, with the year - on - year rate of change in real wages turning positive recently, together with firms'initiatives and the effects of various government measures. however, i believe it is still necessary to monitor this situation carefully, as the previous prolonged negative growth in real income may hamper future improvement in consumer sentiment. iii. the bank's conduct of monetary policy 5 / 7 bis - central bankers'speeches next, i would like to talk about the bank's decisions made at the july 2024 mpm and share my views in this regard. the first point concerns the change in the bank's guideline for money market operations ( chart 12 ). specifically, the bank decided to raise the target for its policy interest rate, the uncollateralized overnight call rate, from the previous level of " around 0 to 0. 1 percent " to " around 0. 25 percent. " at the july mpm, the bank assessed that, while japan's economic activity and prices had been developing generally in line with its outlook presented in the outlook report, upside risks to prices required attention given that, for example, the year - on - year rate of change in import prices had recently turned positive again. in view of