'BUSINESSES HAVE A KEY ROLE IN DRIVING INDIA'S GREEN TRANSITION'

RDINESH, the newly elected President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), shares his views on the current state of the Indian economy , and the pivotal role of the CII in driving growth, in an interaction with ASHISH SINHA. Excerpts

What is your assessment of India’s GDP growth performance, and what role do you see the private sector playing in sustaining and accelerating this growth in the coming years? 

The acceleration in GDP growth to 7.2 per cent in 2022-23 as compared to advance estimate of 7.0 per cent is encouraging. The strength in the full-year number is attributable to a rise in domestic demand drivers of consumption and investment despite a high base. The latter is salutary and will drive bulk of the growth in the current year too. The private sector is expected to compliment the public sector by partaking in driving the overall capital investments in the economy. This, we feel, will kick-start the virtuous cycle of boosting the exports momentum too.

How do you perceive the current state of investment from the private sector in India? What reforms do you believe are necessary to attract more domestic and foreign investments? 

Private sector investments are slowly but steadily recovering, with capacity utilisation having crossed trend levels in several industries. The CII Business Outlook Survey for Q4 FY22-23 affirms fresh sightings in private investment, with majority of the respondents expecting capacity utilisation levels to be 75-100 per cent in Q4FY23. Going forward, India must continue to build its infrastructure. The focus on ease of doing business, cost of doing business and decriminalisation of business and economic laws should also continue.