Economic Survey optimistic, but need to raise private capex, says industry

Subhrakant Panda, President, FICCI, MD, IMFA, stressed on the need for private sector to increase capital expenditure in projects.

“The government has done a great job of providing both stimulus to the economy during the lean period of the pandemic as well as doing so by investing in infrastructure which has a significant impact going ahead on both the ease of doing business as well as the, as the cost of doing business,” he said.

“But clearly private sector does have to step in. There has been a steady increase quarter on quarter in terms of public, private sector announcements of new projects. Generally I think private sector capital private sector capital expenditure is showing signs of picking up. It's more than a trickle. I believe it is gathering momentum and going ahead while this will be the year where there is a transition from substantially government led capex to private sector,” Panda said.

Dr Anish Shah, Vice President, FICCI & Managing Director & CEO, Mahindra & Mahindra, reiterated the fact that the survey was a very optimistic one.

“It (Survey) also gives certain very specific magnets growth and these are real because India is positioned very well in the world today. And if you look at a specific number on the survey, our core debt to GDP is down 9% since 2008. This compares to the global average which is up 38%,” he said.

He too stressed on the need for the private sector to step up capacity to create a position of strength not just for India but for the world.

Highlighting the optimism in the Survey, Sanjiv Puri, Vice President, CII Chairman & MD, ITC, said that the enablers have been articulated and the confidence of business leaders has jumped significantly.

He appreciated the government’s initiatives has helped strengthen the economy and that the agriculture sector has been resilient.

Appreciating the lower debt in the Survey, Janmejaya Sinha, CMD - BCG, India, Chairman - Financial Inclusion, CII, stressed on the need to use money judiciously.

“I feel that there is a lot of money that is available which this government can now actually cash in on.

And we have been doing that, you know, we've been building roads, we've been building on the lane, you know,

“When we build infrastructure, we improve long term productivity and for us to borrow. If we use the borrowing to improve our productivity, (that) is the only way we get out from being an emerging country to building it,” he said.

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