Banker and president designate of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) Uday Kotak said on Tuesday the Indian economy is similar to Bollywood films that are long but have happy endings, and will continue to grow strongly in the long run.
He said, “We take views over a period of time. Look at India as a photograph which is beautiful... Hindi movies are long, but they have happy endings. The same is the case with India. In the last four years, the main difference is that in the beginning period, the macro (economy) was doing well, the micro was challenging. Today, micro is doing well but macro is challenging. A tug-of-war is happening. But today in totality on the ground, we are seeing very strong micro demand coming back, whether it is cars, trucks, two-wheelers, construction equipment and steel.”
CII president Rakesh Bharti Mittal said reforms will continue, whatever the outcome of the 2019 general elections, brushing aside fears of a coalition government cobbled together by the combined Opposition.
“What will happen will only be known in 2019. I believe that the GDP growth of India will continue like this. We have seen this after 1991. India has always been on the path of economic growth and progress,” Mr. Mittal said on political uncertainties for the economy.
While refusing to comment on the alleged violation of corporate governance norms at a major private bank, Mr. Kotak, executive vice chairman and managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, said the stress in the banking system had begun surfacing in 2010-11.
“Today’s reality (high bad loans) had its roots in 2010-11 and kept on adding for the last six to seven years. This is the culmination (phase) and now the central bank and the regulator has taken a view to clean up. This bloated stress is coming out in a short period of time,” said Mr. Kotak.