The conference is being jointly organised by the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (Ficci), the Standing Conference of Public Enterprises (Scope) and the National Council for Applied Economic Research NCAER).

Assocham and the Railway Board are the co-sponsors. Prominent management guru Sumantra Ghoshal of the London Business School will initiate the proceedings of the conference which will be attended by government officials, corporate executives, academics, experts, trade union leaders, etc.

At a press meet to announce the conference, Central Vigilance Commissioner N Vittal, who is also chairman of the steering committee, said, "India's competitiveness is going down. It is time concerted efforts were made to improve competitiveness."

NPC directorgeneral SS Sharma said even those countries which are much ahead of us have come out with policies on competitiveness in the recent past. He specifically mentioned the examples of Australia, Singapore and the UK. "There is no choice but to be competitive. It must also be noted that economic reforms do not automatically improve competitiveness. Reforms are necessary but not a sufficient condition for competitiveness."

Vittal added that the Indian industry has been thrown open to competition, especially with the signing of the WTO agreement. And things are going to become difficult with time, as competition is increasing everyday. A policy on competitiveness will be an over-arching umbrella that would take care of various sectors, he added.

Countries like the UK and Australia have a competitiveness policy, but they have reached a certain level. Would it be appropriate for India to go for a competitiveness policy at this stage? Vittal felt that this policy can be used for "leapfrogging" on the path ofdevelopment.

Sharma added that India need not exactly follow the trajectory assumed by developed economies. If the policies are correct, development can be "telescoped".