world mirror
The Indian economy is growing rapidly. India is said to have overtaken Germany and Japan in just four years. People who had previously emigrated return to their homeland and set up companies there.
The latest business figures, which Srikanth Reddy presents to his team, are on the projector. The 29-year-old from the southern Indian metropolis of Hyderabad founded the start-up Hala Mobility: a company that focuses on sustainable mobility and lends electric scooters to customers and delivery men. Within three years he collected around one million dollars in investor funds, and he has now hired almost 80 employees.
Reddy studied in Italy and Spain and did his doctorate in Madrid. For a few years he worked as a well-paid data specialist in Spain’s capital. Then he made a conscious decision to return to his home country. “With my job I could have lived a carefree life in Europe,” says Reddy. “But what I really wanted was to make a difference. I wanted to create something that would solve a big problem.”
State invests in innovation centers
In India, he says, he finds the perfect starting conditions for this. Hardly any national economy is currently growing as fast as the Indian one. According to a forecast by the OECD, gross domestic product will grow by six percent in 2023. For comparison: For Germany, the industrialized countries organization predicts a stagnating economy. The result: in just four years, India’s economy is expected to be larger than that of Germany or Japan.
Larger cities in particular are drivers of growth, such as the southern Indian metropolis of Hyderabad. The state is investing millions of euros in research funds in innovation centers such as the “T-Hub”, which it says is the largest of its kind in the world. Around 350 start-ups currently have their office here, and around twice as many will fit in there: “Soon there will be more than 1,000,” says Anthony Anish, Managing Director of the “T-Hub”. “Ideas and inventions will come from here that will benefit all Indians.”
Around 350 start-ups currently have their offices in the “T-Hub”, but there will soon be many more.
Big discrepancy between towns and villages
A promise that should go primarily in the direction of the population living in the countryside. This is still about two-thirds of all people. The village of Saidapur is located almost 200 kilometers from Hyderabad. Bharathi Kumar is 38 years old and has rarely left her home town. “Nothing has changed here in the last few decades,” she says. “Even if politicians promised us otherwise.”
Her family owns two cows and a paddy field. From time to time she sells fruit at a local weekly market. With the equivalent of around 150 euros per month, they have to make a living. “We feel abandoned in the villages,” Kumar said. “We don’t notice anything about technological progress or better living conditions.”
Solutions sought for rural environments
Young entrepreneur Srikanth Reddy wants to take responsibility. Bharathi Kumar’s son works for him in the company as a mechanic. It is important to develop solutions in the future that would also benefit the rural population. “Whether it’s the way to the city or an improvement in general living conditions,” says Reddy. “Even people from small villages must be able to realize their dreams. There is still a big gap that needs to be closed.”
The state innovation center “T-Hub” also wants to take on this. According to Anthony Anish, many young entrepreneurs are already addressing the challenges in rural areas. “Companies that deal with, for example, agricultural technology and sustainability are working on problems that arise outside of the cities,” says Anish. “A great deal of energy is being put into developing solutions for the villagers of India.”
In any case, there are big goals in Hyderabad for pioneering ideas and technologies. The innovation center is currently being expanded by two buildings. In five years, there will be room for 20,000 start-ups instead of 1,000. “It won’t be long before we in Hyderabad will be considered India’s Silicon Valley,” says Reddy. Not only is the economy growing in India, but so is self-confidence.
The “Weltspiegel” reports on this topic today at 6.30 p.m. in the first.