Today, as we stand together to celebrate India’s 73rd Republic Day, it is heartening to look back and ponder on the phenomenal progress that the largest democracy, which is home to one sixth of the world population, has accomplished since Independence. Although the last two years have been the toughest in recent history of mankind, India managed to keep fueling its growth story, fighting against the multiple waves of the deadly coronavirus which disrupted lives, India has managed to come out least scarred and is poised for a double-digit GDP growth in the next financial year.
It is time to refresh India’s growth story with focus on infrastructure development with special attention to sectors like housing, healthcare, education, digital & technology led services. In 2020-21, the country received a record FDI of US$81.97 billion and cross-border mergers and acquisitions (M&A) surged.
Social inclusiveness with focus on the marginalized population is very heartening. For the first time, the list of invitees to the Republic Day celebrations in New Delhi includes autorickshaw drivers, construction and sanitation workers and frontline healthcare workers. This shows that the unheard voices are now being heard by the government.
Investors already consider India as an investment hub for its skilled young workforce as the average age of Indians is very low. While India has the advantage of a large population of educated youth, most countries will fall short of working-age people, caused by lower birth rates and an aging working population. In such a scenario, India has a major demographic advantage for the next 25 years and can provide a host of services for various labour-intensive sectors with focus on skill development among the youth. With women’s empowerment as an objective, there is a strengthening of the role of women in all areas, which further drives the country’s growth. Investing in education, especially women’s education, health and infrastructure, should lead to our goal of becoming the center of the world’s economic powers.
Indians like us living abroad, lovingly remember our home country and are proud of the achievements. Since we started our operations in Dubai 35 years back, Aster has been focussing on giving back to the country through healthcare infrastructure development in India. We are now present in 5 Southern States of India with 14 hospitals, 77 pharmacies and 9 labs with 3834 beds providing quality healthcare at affordable cost to millions of patients. We are in the process of increasing our presence in India and allocating more capital for growth there. I wish our Motherland, which is the cradle of civilization with 5000 years of history, to become a world super power with unity in diversity.
Jai Hind!
Dr. Azad Moopen, Founder Chairman and Managing Director, Aster DM Healthcare
