The India Business Forum (IBF) was founded in the year 2002 under the guidance of Late Prof. Sumantra Ghoshal. IBF aims to further the role of India in the global business and academic community. With London Business School as the platform, IBF is a confluence of business leaders, leading academics, financiers, entrepreneurs and students to discuss and debate pertinent issues relating to doing business in and with India and its overseas community. The core activity of the IBF is to host an annual summit where the most dynamic thought leaders from India and Europe engage in diverse audience mix with insights on current business trends related to India.
Entrepreneurship in India – its evolution and way forward:
Before 1991, Indian business success was a function of ambition, licenses, government contacts, and an understanding of the bureaucratic system. Liberalization, however, changed the very nature of entrepreneurship in India. Post liberalization, businesses succeeded because they were customer focused and professionally managed. The old, family-managed businesses, which formed the backbone of the economy, needed to evolve and become more institutional, if they were to extend their life cycle.
India saw unprecedented growth from 2004 to 2011, but the successful Indian growth story appeared to suffer in more recent years. Expectations of an investment-led economic turnaround after Prime Minister Narendra Modi's victory have brought in copious amounts of capital, sending the total value of the Indian stock market to over $1.5 trillion, for the first time. What will it take to bring more entrepreneurs forward? How can India break the perception that its entrepreneurs lack what it takes to achieve scale and go global?
The theme for IBF 2015 is ‘Entrepreneurship in India – its evolution and way forward’. The theme is pertinent to the efforts of the new Indian government to promote ease of doing business in India. This exciting journey will see them engaging with businessmen, government officials and entrepreneurs from different generations and bringing them, and their stories, to London Business School. IBF said that a set of stellar entrepreneurs have agreed to speak at the conference. Three confirmed keynote speakers at this year's conference are:
• Dr. Preetha Reddy (MD, Apollo Hospitals) - One of the most high profile CEOs and a second generation entrepreneur of the most famous hospital chain in India, Dr. Reddy will shed light on the evolution on Indian entrepreneurship across decades.
• Mr. Kishore Lulla (Exec Chairman, EROS) - The person single-handedly responsible for exporting the multi-billion Bollywood to the globe. A very fascinating story from a very eloquent speaker!
• Mr. Rana Kapoor (Founder, CEO - yes Bank) - A professional entrepreneur, Mr. Kapoor led the private banking revolution in India by starting the Yes Bank. There could be no person better than Mr. Kapoor to comment on finance services based entrepreneurship in India and the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Besides this there are also a number of exemplary speakers across Dharma Life, Shell Foundation and 500 Startups. The IBF 2015 will be held on March 6, 2015 at the iconic Church House, Westminster (London) from 10 am - 6 pm. For more details please visit IBF website - http://clubs.london.edu/India/rsvp?club_url2=India&id=23051
