Mumbai: Despite uncertainties arising out of global and domestic events, India’s fundamentals are strong and its growth story is very much intact, ITC Ltd Chairman and Managing Director Sanjiv Puri said Friday.
He, however, said the rise in inflation is a concern, which has affected the demand.
“No doubt that we are faced with uncertainties. The (Russia-Ukraine) conflict is just one part of it. If you go back, in the middle of the pandemic inflation came in. There are many pieces of this uncertainty. But if you look at the fundamentals, the growth story and the promise of India is very much intact,” Puri said at the Times Network India Economic Conclave.
Puri said he was optimistic about the opportunities that are available in India.
“I think there are more and more opportunities. I don’t think there is any reason to hold back or get despondent. The ups and downs are there to stay but if you got the right strategies, right competitiveness, I think one should be able to thrive in whatever type of new normal emerges,” he said
Puri said India is the best performing economy. It has come out of the pandemic with very resilient performance. The country has good foreign exchange reserves, buoyancy in tax revenues and has a growth oriented budget, which seeks to crowd in private investment through public expenditure.
“There are also policy interventions as far as agriculture is concerned, which is to do with the formation of farmer produce organisations and agri infrastructure fund. All these tools and interventions will bring in efficiencies, jobs and better income.
“All these are not going to happen overnight, it will happen over time. And once this happens, the consumption is bound to go up. In fact, given the penetration levels and per capita consumption levels in India, the headroom to grow is enormous,” he said.
He said in the short term, inflation is a concern but then there are more opportunities.
“At the moment, demand is down because of inflation. But the opportunities in India are immense and the structural drivers are in place,” he added.
PTI