Private sector capex in focus at ET Awards

Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants Indian industry to unleash its animal spirits, building on the investment thrust led by the Centre that's seeing a vast infrastructure buildout across the country. Between the fiscal years of 2018 and 2022, investment in infrastructure in India has increased at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 7% to ₹11 lakh crore. On top of that, the government announced a jump in capital expenditure to ₹10 lakh crore in the last budget.

In a post-budget webinar, the PM had nudged the private sector to step up, loosen its purse strings and capitalise on new global supply chain opportunities to boost output and let entrepreneurial instincts flourish.

Backed by the production-linked investment (PLI) programme, new-age opportunities and a commodities upcycle, private sector investment is gathering pace. Capacity utilisation among most legacy sectors such as manufacturing has breached the decadal average but is still a notch below the all-time high.

At the much-awaited ET Awards for Corporate Excellence on April 28 in Mumbai, a high-powered panel will discuss what needs to be done to step up private sector capex so that the economy - the world's fastest-growing - can surge to 8% expansion and beyond. On the panel will be Amitabh Kant, India's G20 sherpa; Uday Kotak, CEO of Kotak Mahindra Bank; Sajjan Jindal, chairman of JSW Group; Preetha Reddy, vice chairperson of Apollo Hospitals; and Sanjiv Mehta, CEO of Hindustan Unilever.