Bravehearts of Economy !

Maharashtra lagged in all investment parameters and numbers post 2019 Maha elections till mid 2022. The political canvass however changed overnight with sudden turn of events in June 2022, which in the end brought Devendra Fadnavis back in the reckoning as he took over as deputy chief minister of the state. And, he did not disappoint many, as Maharashtra is now slowly coming back in the reckoning as far as foreign direct investments are convened. Of the country’s total 80,000 start-ups and 100+ unicorns, 15,000 start-ups and many unicorns are in Maharashtra. One can remain optimistic that some of unicorns in Maharashtra turn decacorns soon, and plenty existing start-ups become unicorns, opines Dhananjay Deshmukh.

A woman from a typical middle income group family in Mumbai along with her college drop-out son and his friend pitching her business in front of successful business people (unicorn owners) – the Sharks as they call, was a comforting sight! Eventually two of the five sharks got convinced of her success, and decided to invest in her company that makes food products. One would come across several such success stories across the length and breadth of Bharat (along with plight of those who failed). The fact these stories underline is, that, the “spirit of entrepreneurship” is very much intact in India, rather flourishing. Additionally, not everyone can become a successful business person; but a successful business person can come from anywhere.

Be an Enterprising person, Entrepreneurship will happen naturally

One who sees potential in all aspects of life is said to be entrepreneurial. Someone who exhibits initiative and resourcefulness is said to be entrepreneurial. An entrepreneur is a person who decides to take the risk of launching a new business. A business is established by an entrepreneur to carry out their business idea, which combines labour and capital to generate goods or services for a profit.

An enterprising person, fancies an idea, dreams to nurture it so he/she starts and enterprise- may be on a small scale. Business idea could be completely new in industry or typical run of the mill, “me-too” category; but what is crucial is somebody decides to take risk for time and monetary investments. That is what a start-up is! Start-ups are businesses that want to disrupt industries and change the world – and do it all at scale. So, you get the chain, right?

Start-ups are not novelty, they existed in our economies for centuries. What is interestingly, in today’s global economy, some of them are getting rewarded with exemplary valuations and recognitions. That is flaming many others to join the game, let’s start, let’s have a start-up!

Considering the startup ecosystem, India is said to be among the big 3 countries. As per reports, India witnessed a massive 15400% (yes, 15400%) growth in the number of start-ups – 470 in 2016, to 72993 in June 2022! The Government of India(GoI), as part of Start-up India initiative, is implementing Fund of Funds for Start-ups (FFS) Scheme and Start-up India Seed Fund Scheme (SISFS) to provide financial assistance to start-ups through Alternative Investment Funds (AIFs) and incubators respectively.

They say, a government has no business to be in business, but then a government must always create favourable policies, and offer supportive ecosystem for businesses. That is what seemed to have happened in India in the last 8 years. In a new India started-up! Today, India has over 100 unicorns (valuation of more than $ 1 Bn), combined valuation of $ 340.79 Bn. A decacorn is company that has attained a valuation of more than $ 10 Bn. As of July 2022, 46 companies’ world over had achieved the decacorn status, of that India has four start-ups namely, Flipkart, BYJU’s, Nykaa and Swiggy.

Maharashtra is the third largest state in India, covering approximately 9.4% of the country’s total geographical area. 4 international and 7 domestic airports, a road network of over 303,000 km and 6,165 km. The state is connected to all major markets with a long rail network. The state’s 720 km coastline and presence of 55 ports facilitate the movement of about 22% of India’s total cargo traffic. Maharashtra has a good presence of industrial clusters, especially automobile, IT and ITES, chemicals, textiles and food processing clusters, and these sectors offer attractive investment opportunities. Maharashtra’s Gross State Domestic Product (GSDP) was estimated at $450 billion (2021-22), out of India’s GDP $3.1 Trn, that is 14.5% making Maharashtra, the largest contributor !

It was in 2019, the then chief minister Devendra Fadnavis presented his vision to make Maharashtra a $1 Trn economy, while India become a $5 Trn economy. Maharashtra is said to be the startup capital of India, a fact which Fadnavis decided to leverage cleverly. He was instrumental in designing a first among many, a dedicated policy for fintech sector.

But in November 2019, the political chessboard took a 180-degree turn, and a completely new coalition (of the parties that had totally opposite political ideologies) came to power in the state. However, one will be surprised if he/she looks at media reports on industry growth and FDI in the state during 2020-22. Maharashtra lagged in all investment parameters and numbers during this time period.

The political canvass however changed overnight with sudden turn of events in June 2022, which in the end brought Devendra Fadnavis back in the reckoning as he took over as deputy chief minister of the state. And, he did not disappoint many, as Maharashtra is now slowly coming back in the reckoning as far as foreign direct investments are convened.

Of the country’s total 80,000 start-ups and 100+ unicorns, 15,000 start-ups and many unicorns are in Maharashtra. One can remain optimistic that some of unicorns in Maharashtra turn decacorns soon, and plenty existing start-ups become unicorns.

Industries like auto, fintech, cleantech, agri-tech, lifestyle deep tech, artificial intelligence, and climate tech are projected to secure higher valuations in 2023.

Opportunities galore across all colours – Blue, Black, Red and Green!

The blue economy, as defined by the World Bank, is “the sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihoods, and jobs while protecting the health of the ocean ecosystem.” The “blue economy” has the potential to provide employment, promote economic expansion, lessen the effects of climate change, and assist feed a growing world population. A draught policy framework for India’s “Blue Economy” was created a few months ago. The draught Blue Economy policy framework envisions the best possible usage of all marine domain sectors, including tourism, ocean energy, living and non-living resources, and others, for the sustainable development of coastal areas.

Maharashtra has over 700 kms of coastline along the Konkan region, the longest in India. The Konkan coastline is spotted with numerous beaches and is a perfect escape for the Pune and Mumbai locals. It has 53 ports, wherein 2 are Major and 51 Minor or Intermediate. The Coastal Areas in India constitute multiple ecosystems stretching from shores and mangroves to coral reefs. These Coastal states can play a significant part in expanding harbors and inland waterways for sustainable growth. The water transport provides the cheapest source of transportation to any country.

The black soil of Maharashtra is often fondly referred as “Kaali Aai (black mother).” An average farmer is now well exposed to basic technologies like mobile and internet, thus he can very well be given best of the services in today’s app-based tech-era. Sensor based IoT devices for studying soil and its fertility, and smart irrigation; solar pumps for uninterrupted power supply and implements, and “DaaS: drone-as-a-service” (for inspections, spraying insecticide and studying) are some of the facilities that start-ups can focus on.

Covid19 pandemic proved that a modern and decentralised medical infrastructure is the need of the hour across every village, town, and city. Modern medical devices and optimal service solutions will be key to successful achievement of this goal.

Recently GoI has announced a policy for green hydrogen – the next big thing that can disrupt mass transportation and industrial production. Green hydrogen will be cleanest of all fuels, 100% sustainable, and once implemented appropriately, it could reduce India’s dependence on foreign shore for fossil fuels.

In addition to the above sectors, there are many more sectors like sports & fitness, food tech, fintech, edtech that offer promise in today’s 5G era. Designing optimal solutions using Artificial intelligence and blockchains can do wonders for governance and medical sectors. A business and investor friendly government at state and centre is a bonus. So, entrepreneurs, buck-up, make the most of this once in lifetime opportunity!

India is in Bharat

Premium carmaker Mercedes-Benz reported strong 40% growth in its India car sales for year 2022.These figures are now better than the best the company had achieved much before the Corona pandemic. While most of the global economies saw erosion during the pandemic, Indian economy remained strong. That is purely due to its inherent nature – it is somewhat insulated from the world due to its domestic populous and markets – India that is in Bharat. Every business and entrepreneur must remember this fact and respect the customer, market, and ethos of Bharat. Most importantly, promote your enterprise or business, promote shamelessly, unabashedly, because no one else will do it for you. So, communicate sensibly – remember wokeism has cancelled many strong brands!

Last bit..

Entrepreneurs are backbones of the economy. In a way, they are the real “Bravehearts of the economy” since they are the ones who take risks, cultivate dreams to ideas and execute to reality. Entrepreneurial spirit compels dreamers to become doers till they succeed or survive! While, Maharashtra offers enormous business potential, it is important that every current or potential investor or entrepreneur follows the golden rule – study, understand and invest. Study the market, understand competition and consumer & use cases, make an appropriate business case, and then invest. In addition, break the business into processes – understand each process, execute them to near perfection to win them. Profits will follow. Make an informed decision. Make in magnificent Maharashtra, make for the world.

Remember, not every start-up can become a unicorn; but a unicorn can come from anywhere!

It’s a long way to success. It’s a long way to dreams.
Dream. Passion. Work. Succeed!

Dhananjay M. Deshmukh is a Mumbai based author with his eyes and ears to the world of industries, businesses, markets, infrastructure and the nitty-gritties of socio-economic-politics involved. An independent market research and business consulting professional, he is an avid sports observer too. Views are personal.  The data and information presented in his blogs can be verified by online secondary research.