Infosys founder NR Narayana Murthy has urged India to adopt a “management mindset” in governance to accelerate economic progress and achieve the ambitious goal of a $50 trillion economy by 2047.

Speaking at the CNBC-TV18 Global Leadership Summit in Mumbai on Thursday, November 14, Murthy advocated for introducing more managers into government roles to foster “speed, imagination, and excellence” in public sector decision-making and policy execution.

“It is time for India to move from an administrative mindset to a management mindset. The administration is all about the status quo. On the other hand, management is all about vision and high aspiration. It’s about achieving the plausibly impossible,” Murthy told CNBC-TV18.

Murthy stressed that such a shift could bring qualities like “cost control,” “quick implementation,” and “confidence building” to the government, vital for transforming India’s economic landscape.
Murthy proposed that the government consider hiring more managers with formal training rather than relying solely on administrators selected through the current civil services examination system.

As part of his reform suggestions, he recommended recruiting candidates from management institutes across India, who would then undergo specialised training in Mussoorie (the Lal Bahadur Shastri Academy, where IAS officers are trained before deployment to their state cadres.) This training would emphasise critical management skills such as “decision-making under uncertainty,” “creating competitive advantages,” “strategic thinking,” and “project management.”

The 79-year-old business leader said that equipping these management recruits with practical skills, including “workflow management” and “simulation,” would prepare them to tackle complex governance challenges with a solutions-driven approach.

Murthy further proposed that these management-trained individuals be assigned to specific sectors like agriculture, defense, and infrastructure, allowing them to build subject-matter expertise over their careers.

Responding to Donald Trump appointing Tesla’s Elon Musk and Indian-American businessman Vivek Ramaswamy to head a commission that will look at efficiencies across all government functions, Murthy said, “Reducing government, reducing latency of action, reducing fat, reducing inefficiency—they are good, whether it’s America or India.”

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