Narendra Modi’s digital drive augurs revival for Sterlite Technologies

Indian metals billionaire Anil Agarwal is seeing happy days once again for a business that was almost sinking.

Breathing new life into his Sterlite Technologies Ltd, a maker of telecommunications cables, is a plan by Prime Minister Narendra Modi to take the Internet to a billion rural Indians. The initiative will lead to a 20% jump in orders in each of the next three years and help Sterlite end two back-to-back annual losses, chief executive officer (CEO) Anand Agarwal said in an interview.

The government’s vow to spend $18 billion on Modi’s ‘Digital India’ drive was bolstered this month by billionaires from Mukesh Ambani to Sunil Mittal and Kumar Mangalam Birla, who pledged a combined $70 billion in investment. Shares of Sterlite have rallied 66% in the past year, compared with a 12% gain in the benchmark index.
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