COVID-19 pandemic that originated from the city of Wuhan in China has spread globally and infected more than 4 million of the population worldwide leaving more than a quarter-million people dead. With an obvious effect on the health, COVID-19 has also flumped the wealth of the nations. Several news reports worry about the upcoming recession but on the other hand; IMF predicts 1.9% GDP growth in the year 2020 for India. That is indeed a whopping number at this time. Is there any other silver lining for India amid the dark clouds of this deadly pandemic?

Chinese protectionist policies and expansionist nature are already making it hard for companies to maintain their supply chain and manufacturing units in the country. Apart from this, the COVID-19 pandemic has also worsened the Chinese image across the globe. Several American, UAE, and Japanese companies, from Saudi Aramco to POSCO, are finding a way to exit China and minimalize their dependency on China. So, India has a way to thrive.

“Such incidents rarely have positive effects on any country. But there are ways countries can take advantage of it. If there is an opportunity for India, it is in shaping that dialogue in more of a leader because it is not one of the two warring parties. It is, however, a big enough country to have its voice heard in the global economy.” – told renowned economist Raghuram G. Rajan in his conversation with Rahul Gandhi.

Dialogues are important and the gravity of dialogues even increases when we juxtapose this with the fact that today’s economy is based on globalization and we cannot repel its effect. Apart from bilateral dialogues, India also must find and polish some pull factors for the companies exiting China so that they can start investing in the country. Indian interest lies in more than 550 products including Medical Equipment Supplies, Food Processing Units, Textiles, Leather, and Auto-parts manufacturing. They all require a large chunk of land and good governance.

India has already assigned 461,589 hectares (almost double the total area of Luxemburg) of land for these companies. 115,131 hectares out of this land is within the boundaries of three states – Gujarat, Maharashtra, and Tamil Nadu. Indian government must implement the plug-and-play model to give all clearances without micro-managing the things. Undoubtedly, India will face tough competition from countries like Vietnam and Cambodia, but India would be the first preference for the companies, for its cheap skilled and unskilled labour, advanced technology, and a bigger market comparatively. 

Apart from this, the Indian service sector including I.T. companies will see a paradigm shift from traditional offices to work from home culture. Remote working will deepen its root post-Corona. Employees have already started realising its benefits from work-life balance, higher productivity to good financial management. Working remotely is also beneficial for the companies. Therefore, CEOs and Business leaders are encouraging their employees to work from anywhere they want. While I write this, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey announces that their employees can work from home forever. Good News indeed!

In the contemporary world economy, India is the largest exporter of I.T. services. With the advancement of remote working culture, foreign companies will start hiring more employees from India due to its cheaper skilled workforce opening new doors of gig I.T. economy for India.

There is abundant capital in the world that is looking to be invested in the geographies that have business-friendly policies. There are opportunities for India to find a place and to make hay while the sun shines. There is certainly a silver lining amid the dark clouds of COVID-19 for India.