With better agricultural growth, rural demand will bounce back, said ITC's chairman and managing director Sanjiv Puri in an interview with CNBC-TV18 on the sidelines of Magnificent MP, the Global Investors Summit that took place in Indore last week.
Nielsen Report for the September quarter suggested that rural consumption was at seven-year low.
“There is slowdown for sure and fairly widespread but India is a consumption market, we are still growing and the headroom to grow is enormous. It’s a market where we will ultimately see growth sooner than later. Therefore, I am quite optimistic,” said Puri.
He added: “ITC pursues investment with the belief that we will get growth because we are very optimistic.”
Puri expressed optimism for growth owing to the central government's efforts to stimulate the economy.
“There are a number of interventions that the government has made. The monsoon has been reasonably good, so we should expect better performance of agriculture sector. The soil has got enough moisture for the rabi crop and that should further help.
"The liquidity in banks is better and it’s important for all of us to realise the growth potential of India and pursue that and over time I am sure things will pick up,” he added.
On demand front, Puri said: “Rural