HYDERABAD: Profitability is not a dirty word after all. Speakers at a national conference here on Tuesday demonstrated how it could be leveraged by corporate India to transform the rural economy by tapping the vast potential presented by the rural market.

"It is time for the corporates to look at rural markets as a business opportunity and not as charity," said V. Subramanian, Special Secretary, Union Ministry of Rural Development, in his keynote address, setting the tone for the two-day deliberations of the conference on "Emerging opportunities at the bottom of the pyramid - transforming the Indian rural economy through profitability." Organised by the World Bank and the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) the conference was aimed at raising awareness over business and employment opportunities created by the World Bank-funded projects in different States.

Impressive line up

The participating States include Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Uttaranchal and companies include L&T, Pepsi, Hindustan Lever, Godrej Agorvet, Pantaloon and ICICI Bank.

Mr. Subramanian said all it required for realising the potential of the rural market was to educate the rural poor, provide them the freedom of choice, improve connectivity and access to the market. The budget allocation for rural development was as high as Rs. 40,000 crores, almost equal to that of defence, demonstrating the importance but the problem was with the implementation and delivery.

He said land reforms in West Bengal had helped in turning landowners into entrepreneurs, resulting in the phenomenal increase in agricultural production.

Michael Carter, India country director, World Bank, spoke of the importance of building linkages among poor rural communities, markets, private sector and banks in bringing about a change in the rural economy.

N. Srinivisan, Director General, CII, said the goal of achieving 10 per cent growth rate in economy was possible only by tapping the rural market.

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