Fiscus 2013: India and China – The New Torch Bearers of World Economy

5^th October 2013 is a date that all SIMSREE students will remember for a long time. Through FISCUS ’13 – the annual financial summit of the institute - it was an honor and a privilege to have with us the stalwarts of finance in the corporate world. The theme for this year was ‘India and China: The new Torch Bearers of World Economy’.

Mr. Seshagiri Rao – the joint Managing Director and group CFO for JSW Steel – was the Chief Guest. Mr. Atul Joshi – the Managing Director and CEO at India Rating and Research (a Fitch Group Company) – was the Key Note speaker for the event. The eminent panelists for the discussing the topic were Mr. Pramod Kasat – head of investment banking team at Investacorp and an alumnus of SIMSREE (batch of 1993); Mr. Tarun Sharma – Assistant General Manager at EXIM Bank of India and Mr. Nilay Rathi – General Manager (Commercial) at Century Textiles and Industries Limited.  The moderator for the discussion was Mr. Prashant Shetty – Director IDFC Capital and an alumnus of the Institute (batch of 1988).

The event, organized by the SIMSREE Finance Forum, was inaugurated by the traditional lighting of the lamp and the national anthem following which the Director of the Institute, Dr. Sandhya Dhabe, welcomed the esteemed guests to the Institute.

Mr. Seshagiri Rao, then addressed the batch. He touched upon the challenges that the developed nations, namely USA and Europe, faced of late and what led to the various financial crises in these economies. In the backdrop of the current turbulent scenario, he also spoke about the opportunities that lie in emerging economies and outlined the path that could be followed. With a rich experience spanning three decades in the steel industry and in the corporate finance and banking sector, he also shared with the students the challenges that India faces with regards to Steel manufacturing and how the future is full of fruitful opportunities waiting to be tapped in to

Mr. Atul Joshi brought to the event an insight to the economies of India and China from a Rating Company’s perspective. He first explained the students the ratings models followed for banks, corporate and the local governments. He also cited the disparities in the national and international ratings awarded to the institutions in India and its effect. Finally, he requested the students to have an optimistic attitude towards the future of the nation

The stage was then open for the panel discussion moderated by Mr. Prashant Shetty. All the panelists first spoke briefly on the subject. Mr Nilay Rathi shared with the students the challenges and opportunities that the Indian and Chinese economies face sighting the example of the textile industry. Mr. Tarun Sharma enlightened the students regarding the importance of exports for the development of any economy. Mr. Pramod Kasat elaborated upon the importance of investment, the differences between the Indian and the Chinese growth models, and the growth strategies to be followed. Among the wide array of questions raised by the audience were the ever increasing population challenges faced by the two nations, and whether it is a challenge or an opportunity, the political unrest between India and China, and how it may impact the economic ties between the two nations, the importance of trade fairs and the merits and challenges of the democracy in India and autocracy in China

Mr. Seshagiri Rao concluded the discussion perfectly by saying “India and China need not confront and have conflict, but they need to collaborate and cooperate”. The event was concluded with a vote of thanks from the SIMSREE Finance Forum Coordinators.