HSBC India CEO outlines robust growth prospects for India over next 25 years
Hitendra Dave, CEO of HSBC India, outlined a robust outlook for India’s growth trajectory over the next 25 years, at CNBC-TV18’s Global Leadership Summit in Mumbai on Thursday, November 14. Highlighting key drivers such as demographics, digital infrastructure, and government capital expenditure, Dave expressed optimism that by strengthening human capital and enhancing business facilitation, India can achieve its ambitious growth goals and secure its position as a global superpower in the coming decades.
Key drivers for growth
The CEO stressed India’s favourable demographics, with a population of 1.4 billion and a median age under 28, stating that “it’s very difficult not to get excited, carried away, full of optimism, full of positivity, for what lies ahead for us over the next 25 odd years or so.”
“… the core issues are all known. I guess it’s the demographics. Very difficult to get a country of 1.4 billion people miraculously under the age of 28 right? I mean, some parents 25 years back were doing wonderful things, and we are reaping the benefits of that,” he said.
He also credited the Reserve Bank of India and the government for advancing digital public infrastructure, particularly in payments, and anticipated that the digitisation of credit would be a major leap forward for lending in India.
“…the wonderful work done by the Reserve Bank of India and the Government of India on the digital public infrastructure the governor spoke about so far, it’s transformed payments, right? But the moment it starts transforming credit… the next 25 years should be about digitisation of credit,” he said.
He further praised the government’s capex spending, which has seen an 18-19% CAGR over the past four years. “If we don’t achieve a GDP per capita level that defines a developed economy in the next 25 years, it would be a missed opportunity for us all,” he remarked.
Focus areas for sustained growth
Dave identified two critical areas for India’s sustained growth: Investment in human capital and increasing women’s workforce participation. He stressed that to truly harness India’s demographic dividend, significant improvements in education quality — from primary schools to universities — are necessary.
“We have 1.4 billion people. We have the average median age of 28,500 million people below the age of 20. But many, too many of them are coming out of schools, colleges, universities, even engineering without really being fully employable. So the number one thing we need to do as a country is simply increase the amount of spending we are doing on our human capital. We need better primary schools, normal schools, colleges, universities, centres of excellence.”
Additionally, he emphasised the economic potential of women, saying, “We need to do much more to make the level of women participation in labour force. There are just far too many women not doing anything gainfully for the economy,” he said.
Addressing challenges to private sector investment, Dave called for better “last-mile” infrastructure, including improved contract enforcement, land acquisition, and supply chain fluidity, which he sees as crucial for enhancing the ease of doing business and attracting foreign direct investment (FDI).
HSBC’s plans in India
On HSBC’s plans, Dave shared that the bank is significantly expanding in India. “We’re doubling down — actually, tripling down. We’re involved in nearly every major acquisition abroad by Indian companies and bank 50% of the MNCs and unicorns in India,” he said.
He expressed confidence that HSBC India would grow at an unprecedented rate in the coming years, achieving in 5-6 years what took the bank 165 years previously.
