In 2007, India will celebrate 60 years of its Independence. I am one of those who readily hangs his head in shame because six decades on, our generation has left a very large part of its work unfinished. Seventy-two percent of India lives in villages and we cannot hope to be a developed country unless we address the issues of development in rural India. The challenges posed by the urban-rural divide are huge. Eighty-seven per cent of our villages have a population density of fewer than 2,000 people per sq km. No single agency finds it economically feasible to deliver goods or services below a population of 5,000 people. Thus many of India's people are really not connected to the market. Here it is evident that the Government has a very large role to play, as do the NGOS, particularly in the area of building of capacity.

How then can the business help bridge this divide? I think the first thing the business must do is to be able to stand on its own two feet in a globalising environment. My beliefis that for a business there is no contradiction between securing competitive capability and making a true commitment to serve the society. Businesses can create value both for the society and for the shareholder. If you approach business and its contribution in a comprehensive manner, not only to profit on return on assets, but to the "triple bottom line"-to society, the ecology and the economy-then you are nurturing and growing natural capital.

What are required from an organisation are vision, values, and leadership because at the moment there is no market for such an approach. However, if consumers and if investors begin to reward those companies that create a "triple bottom line" while making investment or making a choice while consuming goods and services, if they prefer companies that contribute the "triple bottom line" then there would be a greater incentive.

Then they can demand not only financial performance from a business, but also its contribution to creating value for the society. We need to create a system whereby consumers and investors learn to recognise those companies that respond to a "triple bottom line".

And in turn if we urge businesses to voluntarily declare their contribution to this "triple bottom line", in order to motivate consumers and investors in exercising their preferred choice for products, goods and services of those companies that make significant contribution to the society, then we will create an environment in which it would be financially rewarding to bridge this divide. It would ensure that businesses use their resources to embark on projects that take a longer term view, go the extra mile and make a contribution to the society.