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Top executives from India Inc remain hopeful of increased capital expenditure spends and demand in India in the coming years.
Speaking at the SBI Banking and Economics Conclave here on Wednesday, they said 2024 would see a mix of private, public, and government spending. According to them, India’s demand story would continue to remain positive, with value-added manufacturing and exports likely to rise.
Top executives from leading companies in the power and steel sector — JSW Steel and NTPC — indicated a strong capex cycle is likely to continue.
“The strong growth momentum will continue for the next two decades,” said Jayant Acharya, joint managing director (MD) and chief executive officer of JSW Steel, reiterating plans to invest Rs 1 trillion as capex by the end of the current decade.
Gurdeep Singh, chairman and MD of NTPC, said the company’s capex was likely to rise 30-40 per cent going forward from the current levels.
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Som Satsangi, senior vice-president and MD of Hewlett Packard Enterprise, India, said he was expecting a similar growth trend for India's information and technology sector.
In addition to India’s domestic demand growth, these executives also noted certain opportunities and challenges going ahead.
“One big challenge is the skill gap, which we are working on,” Satsangi said.
Acharya expects India's engineering exports to also rise.
Ananda Bhoumik, MD and chief analytical officer for India Ratings and Research, agreed that India is likely to witness a rise in value-added products. “It is indeed a good time for Indian companies. We would like to see balance sheets buffering up, so entities are better prepared for cycles,” Bhoumik said.
State Bank of India Chairman Dinesh Khara pointed out that the private companies so far had been utilising internal accruals to fund growth, which could change going forward. He expects 2024 to see a mix of public, private, and government spending. He also added that SBI’s international presence is likely to grow in tandem with India's growing exports share.
Ashish Chauhan, MD and CEO of NSE, remains confident to increase geographical coverage of investors participating in the equity markets. “We have at least one investor across all pincodes, except 33 of them. We are confident to cover those pincodes in the next six months to one year,” he said.
