'Never been as optimistic about India as I am today': HDFC's Deepak Parekh

Deepak Parekh, Chairman, Housing Development Finance Corporation (HDFC), a major housing finance provider, on Tuesday said that he has never been as optimistic about the Indian economy as he is currently.

“I have been recently saying to every foreign investor and anyone whom I meet, that in my 50 years of working life in India, I have never been as optimistic about the future potential of our country as I am today,” Parekh told CNBC-TV18.

"In the next few years, India will be the highest growth country in the world," he added.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in his address to mark the 75th anniversary of India’s independence, placed an ambitious target before the nation to become a developed country in the next twenty-five years.

India’s gross domestic product (GDP) in the early 90's was a little over $300 billion while today, it stands at nearly $3 trillion, a 10x growth.

According to Parekh, PM Modi has the "political capital" to set India on a growth path ahead with the country's high creditability in the international market.

"In the last 15 years, more than 30 crore Indians have been lifted out of poverty," he said, adding that it is the fastest growing economy and will continue to be so for some years.

Highlighting that India is contributing about 14 percent to global growth, the HDFC chairman said that food & energy security and finance & capital are the aspirations to be worked upon.

"We have been saying this for a while that the optimism around India's growth potential is well within our grasp,” he said.

“With our rising middle class, aspirational society, and domestic-driven large consumption, what the country now needs is a higher rate of investment. Nothing is achieved without vision, nothing is achieved without conviction,” added Parekh.

HDFC shares were trading 1.18 percent higher at Rs 2,485 per share on BSE at the time of writing.

The stock has gained 12 percent in the last one month and has fallen 3.97 percent this year so far.