Panel discussion at Arth-Samvaad 2013 being conducted by Abhinandan Ghosh(sitting), student at IIM Udaipur. Panelists include (seated from left to right)  Deepak Doegar, CFO, GE Energy India; Manish Vora, President & Regional Head – Gujarat, Corporate & Institutional & Infra Banking ;  Nitin Parekh, CFO, Cadilla Healthcare,  Makarand Padalkar, CFO, Oracle Financial Services;  Mahesh Taliyani, Group Financial Controller, Shapoorji Pallonji Group, Prof. Ramesh Bhatt, Former Proff, IIMA and Exec. Chairman W One Management Systems.

The Indian Institute of Management, Udaipur (IIM Udaipur) hosted its first intercollege finance symposium, Arth-Samvaad 2013 in association with YES BANK – India’s 4th largest private sector bank.

The event comprised of a paper presentation challenge followed by a panel discussion with stalwarts of the Indian corporate world. The panelists deliberated on the topic “Are Indian Businesses decoupled from the rest of the world?”

The event began with the opening address given by Prof. Janat Shah, Director, Indian Institute of Management, Udaipur. He stressed on the need of increasing industry-academia partnership and the fact that it is the management students and research from institutes which should provide leadership in doing things efficiently and effectively.

Prof. Janat Shah, Director, IIM Udaipur lighting the inaugural lamp for Arth-Smavaad 2013

As part of Fin Talks at IIMU, the finance club Finomina’s series of interactions with renowned academicians from around the world, Prof. Aswath Damodaran, Professor of Finance at the Stern School of Business, NYU and world renowned expert on corporate valuation gave his views via VC on the topic.

Siding with the recoupling phenomenon, Prof. Damodaran opined that with the increasing influx of foreign capital into the country and investment into the country, Indian businesses per se were no longer decoupled from the rest of the world and were increasingly looking to foreign markets for access to technology and capital.

The Key Note Speaker for the event was Nipun Mehta, Founder & CEO, Blue Ocean Capital & Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd. In his key note address Nipun Mehta talked about factors such as Easy Access to Capital, Prudent Government Policies, Intra-regional Linkages, and Quality of Institutions to be the key drivers in making India decoupled from the world and less dependent on developed economies. He envisioned a scenario 25 years hence where such discussions would center on themes like “Are Global Businesses Decoupled from India and China”.

Director Prof. Janat Shah and Keynote Speaker Mr. Nipun Mehta releasing the second issue of Finomina’s magazine, Artharth

All the panelists got an opportunity to present their opening thoughts on the theme of the discussion. These thoughts were used as a guideline to carry the discussion further. Coming from a host of different industries, the panelists were able to introduce their various perspectives on the topic.

Nipun Mehta, CEO- Blueocean Capital and Advisory Services Limited, Keynote Speaker at Arth-Samvaad 2013, asking a question during the presentation challenge.

The list of eminent panelists who were a part of the discussion included Deepak Doegar, CFO, GE Energy India, Mahesh Tahilyani, Group Financial Controller, Shapoorji Pallonji Group, Nitin Parekh, CFO, Cadila Healthcare Ltd., Prof. Ramesh Bhat, Former Professor, IIM Ahmedabad, Manish Vora, President & Regional Head—Gujarat, CIIB, YES BANK and Makarand Padalkar, CFO, Oracle Financial Services. Covering a wide spectrum of industries such as Energy, Software, Construction, Pharmaceuticals and Banking, the panelists enlightened the students on the recoupling effect of Indian businesses.

Winners of the Presentation Challenge, team from IIM Udaipur receiving the winner’s cheque of Rs. 30,000 from the keynote speaker Nipun Mehta.

The presentation challenge saw participation from the students of the top bschools in India. The finalists consisted of teams from NITIE Mumbai, IIM Shillong and IIM Udaipur. The home team, IIM Udaipur with their presentation on “Can globalization & economic de-coupling coexist?” won the presentation challenge which was evaluated and scrutinized thoroughly by the panelists. The event concluded with a question and answer session with the audience and the prize distribution ceremony.