Quotes from the book "Unfolded"
About the author and Quick summary of the book:
P. Sesh Kumar is a scholar, former public servant, and commentator on economic policy, governance, and institutional reform. With advanced studies in management, strategy, and development at institutions including Cambridge, MIT, and Harvard, he brings together academic analysis and practical experience in government. His work examines the gap between India’s economic ambition and its institutional execution, particularly in the MSME and startup sectors. Through sharp comparisons, accessible metaphors, and data-driven arguments, he highlights how inadequate credit access, weak accountability, limited R&D investment, regulatory friction, and uneven policy implementation constrain India’s entrepreneurs. His central message is clear: India does not lack talent, aspiration, or policy announcements; it needs stronger institutions that enable small businesses to grow, innovate, and compete globally.
Interesting quotes from the book:
As per the Indian definition of MSME:
- A micro enterprise is less than one crore investment and less than 5 crore turnover.
- Small is less than 10 crore investment and 50 crore turnover.
- Medium is 50 crore investment and 250 crore turnover.
Imagine a student trying to get a student loan in the US. The process is mostly online and quick, based on credit score. In Brazil or Indonesia, small businesses apply the same way digitally, with quick approval under a unified national scheme. In India, an MSME often needs to submit physical papers, GST returns, past income, land records, and even then the bank might say no. The process is the barrier, not the borrower.
The author did an interesting comparison of MSMEs based out of India versus China. He also compared how China focused on a few and how India tried to focus on traditional and a broader range of MSMEs.
India has seen over 1,22,000 startups registered in the last decade, making it the world's third-largest startup ecosystem. But behind the unicorn headlines lie sobering statistics: up to 90% of Indian startups failed within the first 5 years.
India spends around 0.7% of its GDP on R&D. In comparison, China spends 2.4%, the US spends 3.5%, and tiny Israel spends 5% of GDP on R&D.
1/3rd of Silicon Valley's engineers are of Indian origin, and by some estimates 11% of Fortune 500 companies are led by CEOs born in India.
In 2017, India ranked 172 out of 190 countries in enforcing contracts.
By 2023, India became home to over 100 unicorns that are startups valued at over 1 billion, making it the third-largest such base in the world. This is a meteoric rise from just one unicorn in 2011.
By 2023, India was accounting for almost 50% of the world's real-time digital payments. UPI saw 117.6 billion transactions in 2023 alone. Indian SaaS revenue was about 13 billion in 2022 and is forecast to reach 30 billion by 2025, capturing around 8-9% of the global SaaS market.
As of 2023, over 90% of gross NPAs (non-performing assets) by value are from loans exceeding 5 crores.
During the Covid period, we were supposed to help MSMEs restructure, but out of 1.7 lakh crore of restructured loans under the scheme, only 18% went to MSMEs. The rest were lapped up by mid-sized and large borrowers.
Imagine making a new rule that only people with a passport can get a subsidized ration. Most don't have passports, so they are left out. That's the risk of using PAN as compulsory ID for MSMEs. Many small units fear formalization and don't have a PAN, so instead of using access it may shut the door.
Think of the Indian Budget as a big joint family dinner. The loudest kids (corporate India) on one end and the farmers on the other always get served first. MSMEs are like the middle child, not big enough to throw their weight around and not poor enough to demand urgent rescue.
Without accountability, authority degenerates into arrogance.
Less than 20% of Indian engineering graduates are employable in code engineering roles. Furthermore, the national employability report shows that IT services absorb the majority of engineers not because they are better trained for coding but because other sectors are not hiring at scale or offering competitive salaries or the jobs are not that sexy for the youth.
Tariffs could reduce GDP by 0.5 to 0.6 percentage points in the current fiscal year, and the Global Trade Research Initiative estimates that affected sectors could see a 70% decline in export volumes over the period in America.
Happy Reading !!!
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