Dr. Achyuta Samanta, Hon’ble Founder, KIIT and KISS in his virtual message for the conclave said that the Covid -19 pandemic has disrupted economic activities across the globe and India. The government of India took a number of initiatives through Atmanirbhar packages to address the problems of the affected segments of the society. He said because of the government initiatives economy is witnessing a sharp rebound in economic activities and is expected to grow 9-10% during the current financial year. Technology was a great enabler of work from home and online education and thus in limiting the adverse effect of the pandemic. He said the present conclave is timely and would address the key issues to explain and understand about the economy’s inbuilt resilience to all kinds of disruptions.

The Konclave started with a very engaging panel discussion on the topic – “Financial Sector Outlook: Disruptions and Accelerating Transformation”. The panel comprised of Mr. Amit Mohanty, MD & CEO, JM Asset Management; Dr Tirthankar Patnaik, Chief Economist, NSE (Moderator); Mr. Kumar Ayashkanta, Chief Investment Officer, Wipro; Mr. Nikhil R Sohoni, Sr. VP – Gr. Finance & Treasurer, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd.; and Mr. Vivek Kumar, Economist, QuantEco Research. The panel was steered by Dr. Tirthankar Patnaik, Chief Economist of the National Stock Exchange of India. The panel discussed about disruptions caused by the pandemic and how technological innovations have helped many economies turn the tide to a certain extent. The panel discussed about the importance of liquidity, human resources, government intervention, technological innovations and the role of central bank in the economic development of the country. The panel discussed the role of the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) in keeping a check on inflation and their strict focus of growth was applauded. It also concurred that maintaining liquidity and increasing the policy rate is vital to take the Indian economy and the financial markets forward. It was discussed that banks today are well capitalized, NPAs have been well provisioned and the corporate deleveraging signal that the Indian economy is on the cusp of higher growth in the coming years. There is a need for investment in cyber security and in digital infrastructure, and the use of big data that will act as catalyst in driving the growth of the economy. The panel agreed that the pandemic has been a big learning curve, and they also concurred on the fact that though technological innovations have helped, human intervention is still important.

Dr. Satya Narayan Misra, Dean, KIIT School of Management, welcomed the esteemed guests on behalf of Dr. Achyuta Samanta, Hon’ble Founder, KIIT and KISS. He introduced everyone to the Industry Engagement Activities of KSOM and set the context of the conclave.  He highlighted different fiscal stimulus packages initiated by the Government and also shared his views as to how a proactive government can come out of economic depression.

Dr. Ajit Ranade, Chief Economist & President, Aditya Birla Group, was the keynote speaker. He spoke about the role of financial sector in the growth of an economy. Mr. Ranade gave an overview on the causes of Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and drew an analogy of the GFC to the current pandemic. He also spoke about the IPO financing issues in India and its merits and demerits, including the oversubscription of the shares and the leverage effect of the IPO financing issues. Dr. Ranade emphasised that there is a need and an incentive for the RBI to ensure that savings from non-financial sector move to the financial sector. His address also covered the various aspects of digital innovations in the payment sector including the advent of Fintech companies, Payment Banks, UPI and the Cryptocurrencies.

Dr. K K Ray, Professor and Area- Chair (Finance), KSOM, offered vote of thanks to the dignitaries, organisers and participants.

The second panel discussion was on the topic – “Decoding Sectoral Outlook: Emerging Economic Paradigm and Way Forward”. The panel comprised of Mr. Manish Saxena, CFO, Adani Enterprises – Natural Resources; Mr. Nikhil Dujari, CFO, GMR Energy Limited; Mr. Kanika Pasricha, Economist, Standard Chartered Bank; Mr. Dinesh Bansal, President Finance, Bajaj Group; and Dr. Praveen Mohanty, Professor, KSOM (Moderator). The panel talked about the doubling of credit growth, post-covid boom in the IT industries, green fuel and importance of the reduction of carbon emission and the expected increase in E-commerce companies post pandemic. The panel also discussed about the importance of generating more capital for greater growth while focusing on the paradigm shift in work culture and work routine.

The second half of the conclave consisted of eight workshops with topics related to MSMEs, Stock Markets Performance and Economic Reality, Retail Investors and the Investment Environment, Product Innovation and Distribution in the Banking sector, Indian Insurance Sector, Digital Renovations in the Financial Sector, Covid-19’s impact on Commercial Banking and the Credit Growth, and Mutual Fund Industry.

The conclave is one of four national level conclaves which is annually organized by KIIT School of Management in the areas of Marketing, Finance, HR and Business Analytics to bring the students closer to industry. This year’s Finance conclave provided the students with an opportunity to interact with business leaders and policy makers from across the nation for holistic learning. The conclave was able to create a digital platform to connect industry professionals, academia and students.