India ideal candidate to gain importance in global trade network: Satvinder Singh

India needs significant improvements and transformational change to overcome the challenges posed by its creaky infrastructure and logistics systems and realize its potential as a trade and economic powerhouse, Satvinder Singh, head of institutional cash and securities services, global transaction banking, Deutsche Bank AG, said in an interview. India is also yet to see progress on structural reforms and resolve policy ambiguities in many sectors, Singh said.

Edited excerpts:

A lot of people continue to be very bullish about the Indian economy. At the current growth rates, there are many who have begun saying the country is ready to take on China’s mantle. Do you agree, or do you think this stance is overly optimistic? If India is to follow China’s path, what are the big steps that need to be taken?

India’s current economic strength is indeed impressive. And despite the fact that the two economies—India and China—are often being compared and, to some extent, benchmarked against each other, I much prefer to take a differentiated view. Ultimately, in a business environment, one view applies—no global firm with serious growth aspirations can ignore a market of this relevance, size and talent. That is true for both India and China. Read More…