From correspondents in Andhra Pradesh, India, 05:36 PM IST

CEO Clubs India panel discussion on “Indian Economy – It is really slowing down? & it’s Impact” at the ISB, campus organised by CEO Clubs of India drew leaders from the Pharma, Media, Private Equity and IT industry body NASSCOM. The Chief Guest of Honor was Dr. Subhashis Gangopadhyay Advisor to Finance Minister, Government of India.

G. Kiran Kumar Chairman, Airports, GMR Group & President CEO Clubs India – Hyderabad Chapter made the introductory remarks and welcomed the chief guest and the keynote speaker. Dr. Rammohan Rao, Dean of ISB in his address urged the need for stronger industry academia partnership.

India has been rated as one of the best performers in the world economy in recent years posting a GDP growth of 9.2% in FY 2007 and 9.6 % FY 2006. This is the highest growth rate achieved in last 18 years for India and second highest growth rate since Independence (1947). It is a remarkable growth set as a result of progressive markets reforms, huge inflows of FDI, rising foreign exchange reserves, boom in the IT and real estate sector, and a flourishing capital market. In his address at the CEO Clubs India panel discussion Dr. Subhashis Gangopadhyay, said we need to prepare ourselves to cope with inflation and get stronger to face fresh economic challenges. Though, the National Rural Employment Guarantee Program has impacted the Fiscal deficit the government likes to ensure that important social programs that were necessary for vulnerable sections of the society are not dismantled.Like most of the world, India is facing testing economic times in today. The Reserve Bank of India had set an inflation target of 4% for FY 2008, but by the middle of the FY 2008 it touched 11% ( It did not take much time to cross the 12% mark. in fact, it the inflation figure touched the 13% mark quite recently), the highest level seen for a decade. The mounting costs of oil, food and the resources which fuel economic growth are slowly taking its toll.NASSCOM president Som Mittal in his comments said that the effect of global economic slowdown is impacting IT industry, as we see the percentage of new projects are beginning to decline. The Quarter to Quarter syndrome is also fast catching up in the IT sector as we are moving away from Year on Year performance charts. The IT industry is also facing lot of challenges arising out of Taxes, uncertain stock market and difficulty in getting land for new projects. But, the India growth story is still strong as our knowledge and talent resources are unparalleled and we will continue to be the new economic drivers in the global economy. In the panel discussion and sector speech there was a mix of caution and optimism expressed by the panel speakers. While Luis Miranda, President and CEO, IDFC Private Equity mentioned that there is continued amount of excitement in the Infrastructure and Power sector as we move into the next level of growth in economy. However, he cautioned certain amount of sluggishness as a result of increase in interest rate, deal flows and lesser number of projects in the power and infrastructure pipeline. In his remarks G V Prasad, Vice Chairman and CEO, Dr. Reddy’s labs said that due ton increase in petroleum products the Pharma industries are facing certain pressure for want of raw materials. There has been also a slowdown in visits to Doctors and people taking drug holiday in some of the global markets. The impact of chemical industries being closed down during the Olympic event also caused certain amount of pressure for raw material. However, he said that CEO’s can use this crisis is good for CEO to rethink and strategize corporate initiatives and make changes in the organization. The conservative approach by FDA in the US coupled with high profile drug delivery failure is also affecting the Pharma industry.Vaidyanathan Iyer, National Business Editor of Indian Express, Utpal Gupta, President & CEO, Agro Tech Foods, Ltd, J A Chowdary, Vice President, CEO Clubs India, Dr. Rashmi Tiwari, of CEO Clubs were also present in the panel discussion and. The panel discussion was moderated by Prof. Amit Bubna.

“We really are at a point today like many countries facing the daunting task of countering the sluggish global economy.” Hari Vallurupalli, Founder and Chairman, CEO Clubs India Said. “We our advisors, board members are working with our colleagues across the globe to choose such important and socially relevant topics as we are doing today that can help evolve valuable views and opinions from industry leaders, opinion makers and policy leaders to tackle subjects of national and global importance.” We are confident the distinguished panel will identify what they see as legitimate concerns currently that need to be addressed and share some bold recommendations on how to address them.”

“We appreciate the contributions from our advisors, members on board and our members to date and look forward to their continuing participation to help CEO Clubs India achieve their goal and extend as many benefits as they can to its constituents.”

J A Chowdary, Vice President of CEO Clubs India mentioned that CEO Clubs India plans to organize a number of such social, industry and economy relevant event in the coming years to enable greater networking amongst leaders from across many sectors.

Chief Executive Officer Clubs India (CEO Clubs) is part of global business network & learning organization with several thousand CEOs as its members. CEO Clubs was founded by Joseph (Joe) Mancuso a serial entrepreneur and a professor 30 years ago. CEO Clubs India was launched in March 2008 in Hyderabad.

It started its operation in Hyderabad and Chennai and will soon start its Delhi Chapters 2008. The Club will be operational in all major metros by next year.

The objective of the Club in India is to bring together Indian business leaders for sharing knowledge and skills that could prove critical to their respective organizations and act as a focal point in creating global business opportunities for for their constituents. CEO Clubs enable its members to enter or expand their businesses around the world through most effective networking and business development forums, events,

gatherings, hospitality functions and an online community. Several CEOs around the world have benefited from CEO Clubs membership - many mergers and acquisitions have been created and are noted through the last 30 years Web site: http://ceoclubsindia.com

Source: Press Release Distribution via India PRwire