India an emerging economy: Nath

The new paradigm is that of a "credible India" with a six-decade old credible democracy, rule of law, an independent judiciary.

Making a strong pitch to business leaders from Commonwealth, Commerce Minister Kamal Nath has said India is rapidly ascending from being a base for low-end processes and operations to high-end Research and Development in sectors like pharmaceuticals and avionics that can make it a vibrant source of intellectual capital for the world.

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"Today, we are immensely proud to be the 'default choice' as the world's Back-Office. Our IT-enabled and other services exports top $40 billion a year. We have also evolved into a low-cost base for a range of goods and services," he said last night at a meeting organized by the Commonwealth Business Council at the Marlborough House here on the topic "India: The New Paradigm."

"India, at the same time, is rapidly ascending the knowledge chain. We are no longer a base only for low-end processes and operations. The unique combination of IT, biotech and a strong pharma and bulk chemical manufacturing base means that high-end R and D in sectors like pharmaceutical research, avionics can put India on the global knowledge map as a vibrant source of intellectual capital for the world.," he said.

"The next step on the journey is to move from BPOs to EPOs (Engineering Process Outsourcing) and even to KPOs (Knowledge Process Outsourcing)," he added.

The new paradigm was that of a "credible India" with a six-decade old credible democracy, rule of law, an independent judiciary and free press and an economy witnessing a sustained growth of 7 to 8 per cent year after year," the Minister said.

"India also has a foreign exchange reserves of 150 billion dollars, and whose merchandise exports will touch 100 billion dollars this year," he pointed out.