FOCUS ON INDIA SERIES

INDIA'S BOOMING ECONOMY AND THE INFRASTRUCTURE CHALLENGE

While India’s economy is projected to grow at 8.4% in 2011, the country faces an infamous deficit of roads, highways, ports, airports, power, and clean water. Economists estimate that poor infrastructure takes off two percentage points from economic growth each year and is partly responsible for driving up headline inflation in India to double digit numbers. A recent report by the McKinsey Global Institute predicts India’s urban population will soar to 590 million in 2030. India will need to build an urban infrastructure to sustain this unprecedented increase. After decades of underinvestment and bureaucratic challenges, India’s political leadership has called for an infrastructure-investment target of more than $500 billion over the next five years, with private and public spending. India’s response to this challenge in coming years is of great interest to U.S. and global companies as they place more confidence in India as a major regional hub for operations and manufacturing.

Rik Geiersbach is Vice President of Corporate Strategy for The Boeing Company.  In this role, Rik is responsible for analyzing and developing plans to drive the company’s growth and nurture new businesses.  In collaboration with both the Commercial Aircraft and Defense, Space & Security business units, Rik works to develop proactive growth strategies and key business initiatives while overseeing the Corporation’s planning process. Rik’s career prior to Boeing includes leadership positions in both corporate aerospace and management consulting.  Immediately prior to joining Boeing, Rik was Corporate Director, Subcontracts and Strategic Alliances, at Northrop Grumman Corporation.

Varun Bajpai is the chief executive officer of SBI Macquarie Infrastructure Management, a joint venture of Macquarie Capital, State Bank of India, and the International Finance Corporation. Bajpai manages a domestic fund that will invest into infrastructure projects and companies in India. Macquarie Capital a subsidiary of Macquarie Group Limited, is a global leader in infrastructure investment and management. Bajpai joined the Macquarie Group as managing director and headed the Indian advisory team within Macquarie Capital Advisers, where he was focused on M&A and financing transactions across key sectors including Resources, Telecom Media Entertainment Technology (TMET), Industrials and now Infrastructure. He also previously worked for Deutsche Bank and Kotak Mahindra.

Rajat Gupta is a senior partner at McKinsey & Company’s Mumbai office. Since joining McKinsey in 1992, he has served clients in India, China, the US, Europe, and Africa. Rajat leads McKinsey’s Infrastructure and power practice in India. In this role, he has served real estate, power, telecom towers and construction companies on strategy, organization, operations, capital optimization and project execution. In recent years, Rajat has worked with several large industrial companies on transformation programs spanning operational development, organizational effectiveness and growth. This has been across a range of sectors including power, real estate, chemicals, metals, minerals, telecom, and pharmaceuticals.