Time is now right for next set of technology giants to be born in India: Pawan Munjal

Time is now right to show the world that the next set of technology giants will be born in India, with the largest digitally-connected open marketplace waiting to be leveraged and monetized,” says Pawan Munjal, Chairman and CEO, Hero MotoCorp.

While addressing the 10^th convocation of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Gandhinagar virtually as a chief guest, he urged the graduating students to grab opportunities and challenge that the largest digitally-connected open marketplace offers. “While many new-age ideas have flown in from America, such as Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Netflix, Twitter, Uber, it is now time that we step to the challenge and show the world that the next set of technology giants will be born out of India.”

Munjal said the numbers also point towards the opportunities, with as many as 700 million Indians are online and connected to the world, making them perhaps the largest congregation of connected people in the world, behind only China. “We have over a billion connections in India, and on an average an Indian is consuming a mammoth 14GB every month at one of the cheapest internet rates in the world, the most economic rates in the world,” he said. “If the past two decades saw countries like China and Vietnam emerge as manufacturing powerhouses of the world, it is now that India led by resolute political leadership grabs its rightful place in the global economy.”

The CEO mentioned the 2011 O2 Arena event in London, where Hero MotoCorp unveiled its logo and launched its new name after its partnership with Japan’s Honda in their erstwhile joint venture Hero Honda ended, as the company celebrates a decade of its solo operations in India. He highlighted that now was the time to make the most of the traits associated with Indians such as ingenuity, demographic dividend, and our never-say-die spirit, and the young graduates will have to lead the charge from the front.

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Munjal also told the graduating students that they are privileged to be in an era where they can afford to fail, learn fast and move on, and asked them to allow themselves to dream big, experiment in life and create the world that they want to live in.

A total 548 students were conferred with degrees at the online convocation ceremony, and a total 52 students received 58 medals for their outstanding academic performances and other proficiencies.