Bangalore has the potential to become the hub of research and development in aeronautics and biotechnology in the next 10-15 years, opined Software Paradigms Infotech (SPI) CEO Sid Mookerjee. 
He was delivering the keynote address at the day-long international symposium on ‘Doing business in India’ organised by SDM Institute of Management Development (SDM-IMD) at its campus here on Monday.
Mookerjee also mentioned that India is transforming into a R&D centre with all the big companies associated with innovation having a significant presence in the country.
Expressing concern over the lack of communication and IT skills among the 13 million students in colleges across the country, he said the emphasis should be on infusing youth with problem solving skills. He said the industry and government had identified lack of communication and IT skills as a problem area for the young workforce.
The initiative by the government to set-up finishing schools to prepare students to be capable of joining international companies would help fuel employment growth, he added.
Mobile power
Speaking about the increasing presence of mobiles, he said the country has 881 million mobile connections and 25 million new connections are added every month.
With the number of mobile users increasing substantially the traditional methods of marketing are no longer important. Mobiles are the mode of delivery in future, he added.
Positives
Describing the positives for the country, he said the average age of an Indian was 25.3 years, he said the country would score over others include China, where the average age is 34 years and USA with 36 years. There are more school going children in the country than anywhere else in the world. The real potential arises from its people. Population has proved to be an advantage for India.
Observing the challenges before the industry, he said in an era where working with global teams has become common, it is important for companies to handle cultural differences and stress on improving verbal and non-verbal communication.
Reaping profits
Observing that the dip in Indian Rupee against the US Dollar was beneficial to Indian IT services, he said profits have increased substantially due to the fluctuation. With Indian companies having 60 per cent of clients in the USA, IT companies are enjoying the benefits.
Sri Dharmasthala Manjunatheswara Educational Trust secretary S Prabhakar, Indian Oil Corporation Limited chief training manager Ashok Jambur, iGATE Patni head of corporate and business finance Salil Ravindran, Centre for International Business Studies director Julian Gaspar and others were present.
More than 300 students of SDM-IMD and 20 students from Mays B-School, Texas A & M were also present.
Generation gap
At the end of his speech, SPI CEO Sid Mookerjee recounted the advise given to him by his father.
Mookerjee said that his father had always advised him not to waste any food as thousands of others were going hungry in the country.
With the country becoming a success story in the IT services sector, Mookerjee said that now he advises his children studying in USA that they should complete their homework, or another Indian could grab their job.
