The Bangalore Chamber of Industry and Commerce (BCIC) on Thursday welcomed the Economic Survey’s GDP growth projection which is around 7.6 per cent for fiscal 2012-13 despite a low 6.9 per cent growth estimated in 2011-12 . The chamber feels that this upbeat economic outlook against the backdrop of the First World nations still wavering with single digit growths come as a great succour to India Inc. as it will push business confidence index upwards thereby enabling greater flow of overseas and domestic infusion of fresh Capex into the flat economy growth that India has been experiencing for the past couple of quarters.
BCIC feels with the easing of inflation, reduction of Policy rates by RBI and some policy prescriptions in the ensuing Budget should augur well for a positive impact on Growth in the next fiscal year.
Vinod Nowal, President, BCIC, while expressing his confidence on India’s growth trajectory despite fighting the gloomy global business sentiment, expressed his serious concerns over Finance Ministry’s projection of industrial growth for the present fiscal which has been pegged between 4 and 5 per cent which is far below the potential growth and the Government should address this issue seriously as this is the sector that not only contributes hugely to the GDP growth but also generate employment to a large extent.
Lakshminarayan, Senior Vice President, BCIC, observed: “Though we whole heartedly welcome government’s initiative to come out with the ‘New Manufacturing Policy’ (NMP) with its main objective to take the share of the manufacturing sector in GDP to 25 per cent, it is but disappointing that we are yet to see the second generation reforms. Reviving growth and controlling fiscal deficit are two most important tasks that the Finance Minister should address on a priority basis to check revenues slippages in his ensuing Budget.” In addition, specific steps like divestment of government assets, fundamental reforms in power sector, curtailing indiscriminate government borrowing, allowing FDI in more sectors will help in a sustainable 7.6 growth as projected by the Finance Ministry, he added.
While N Venkatakrishnan, Chairman, Finance and Banking Expert Committee, BCIC, said: “The Economic Survey presented on Thursday shows some positive signals emerging on the economy. Nevertheless, the fiscal and monetary policies need to work in tandem to deliver the expected outcomes effectively. There are enough pointers to a hard budget tomorrow but the political compulsions and pressures need to be considered by the Finance Minister to present a balanced budget.”
The chamber also welcomed the remarkable progress in the creation of Infrastructure in physical terms.
More From This Section
In some sectors, especially garnering private sector investment in infrastructure through PPP route is indeed a healthy sign to the economy.
H V Harish, Vice President, BCIC, said: “Infrastructure financing is going to be a huge challenge in the years to come and hence urged the government to introduce more innovative schemes to attract large-scale investment into infrastructure. In view of the massive requirements of funds, all efforts need to be made to attract big ticket long-term investors such as strategic investor, private equity funds, pension funds, and sovereign funds.”
Overall, the chamber feels that there some positive signs elicited in the Survey and hope that the Union Finance Minister should come out with a clear road map in the Budget pronouncements tomorrow with some fiscal measures and policy parameters to propel the economy and infuse the necessary momentum to growth and investments into the country.