What does it take to build a nation that keeps promising itself a $5 trillion economy — and keeps missing the deadline? That was the blunt, refreshingly honest question hanging over Mumbai this September, as the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC) celebrated a full century of existence with the launch of its landmark book, Never Taking No for an Answer: India’s Indomitable Private Enterprise.
The evening wasn’t just a book launch — it was a torch-passing moment. Alongside the release, ICC’s Young Leaders Forum (YLF) hosted a fireside chat that put two very different generations of Indian thought leadership in conversation: veteran industrialist Ajay Piramal and economist Dr Rajiv Kumar, moderated by YLF Chairperson Ankit Gupta.
Table of Contents
ICC: The Big Takeaways
| Speaker | Core Message |
|---|---|
| Ajay Piramal (Chairman, Piramal Group) | Businesses evolve, but values like integrity, humility, and authenticity must be lived, not lectured — especially to reach Gen Z |
| Dr Rajiv Kumar (Economist, ex-NITI Aayog Vice Chairman) | India remains short of its $5 trillion target; bureaucratic complacency, not ambition, is the real obstacle |
| Ankit Gupta (Chairperson, ICC YLF) | Every generation must learn and unlearn — young leaders should challenge convention while respecting the journey behind it |
| Sangeeta Jain (Chair, ICC Maharashtra) | Reaffirmed ICC’s role in strengthening government-industry collaboration toward Viksit Bharat |
Why This Conversation Matters
Piramal’s point lands hard in an age of performative leadership: you can’t lecture Gen Z into integrity — you have to demonstrate it. Meanwhile, Dr Kumar’s honesty about missed economic targets is a rare moment of a policy veteran admitting the gap between ambition and execution, while still insisting innovation and impatience with the status quo are the way forward.
It’s this tension — between hard-earned wisdom and restless youthful energy — that the book itself tries to capture. Spanning nine essays from names like Kumar Mangalam Birla, Sanjiv Goenka, and Sangita Reddy, it traces India’s private enterprise story from the freedom movement through the License Raj to today’s global ambitions.
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FAQs
Q1: What is the book “Never Taking No for an Answer” about?
Edited by Dr Rajiv Kumar, it’s a collection of nine essays from top Indian business leaders tracing the evolution of India’s private enterprise from independence to today.
Q2: What was the main concern Dr Rajiv Kumar raised about India’s economy?
He pointed out India hasn’t yet hit its promised $5 trillion economy target and blamed bureaucratic complacency as the biggest barrier to faster growth.
