The birth of a free nation also saw the birth of new enterprises

Indian enterprise is widely recognized as one of our great strengths--a point often made by Tarun Khanna and Yasheng Huang of Harvard Business School in their studies on India versus China.

What is less recognized is the way the nature of Indian business activity has changed in waves of creative destruction. The Indian business class was dominated by trading and mercantile interests at the dawn of freedom.

Even as the Nehru government built the temples of modern India, the Indian business class moved beyond its origins in trade and developed manufacturing skills.

Indian companies are now building global scale and going global. And it is time for yet another change--they have to become innovation powerhouses so that ideas from India melt into the idea of India.