India Needs 125 Fortune 500 Firms to Achieve $5 Trillion Target, Says Lava Founder

India needs to have at least 125 Fortune 500 companies to take a fair share from the global economy, said Hari Om Rai, founder of Lava International at the Convergence India Expo.

He said that the country cannot depend on a few big conglomerates and that smaller firms will have to be supported to achieve the $5 trillion economy target.

“We need to have very large number of companies emerging by giving them the right policies so that we are able to acquire the desired skill and take the fair share from the global world,” he said.

Currently, there are nine Indian companies in the Fortune 500 Global list of 2024. These include Reliance, LIC and Tata Motors.

He said that India could not develop globally competitive skills in its workforce, which was the reason that it left behind in development.

“Despite being one of the largest arable lands of the world and the best demographics, we are still far away from being at least even average economy of the world. We are 18% people but surviving on a mere 3.5% of the global GDP. It means we have not done a good job,” he said.

“The moment we give them skills; our output will be the most competitive in the world. And providing the scale and skill is the key for us,” he said while emphasizing the importance of a skilled workforce in the country.

Rai said that it is important to realize that other countries could become developed because they had champion companies and India should walk the same path. The country needs to formulate encouraging policies for such firms so that they can acquire skills and technology for the country, he said.

“It is highly critical for us to understand that the way forward can only be through the Indian champions who are able to acquire skills and technology for the country and create value for our citizens so that no one from the outside can bully us. So internally, it has to be great.”

India and the US need to collaborate with each other which would be beneficial for both the countries, Rai said when asked about the effect of US President Donald Trump’s policies.

The US can deter the rise of China by leveraging India while India can leverage their technology, he said.

“So, it's a great opportunity for the US to engage with India. And similarly, it's a great opportunity for us to engage with them and together become a formidable force so that we are able to create a great win-win situation.”