 "Anish Shah, Mahindra CEO & MD")
The industry expects the continuation of growth-oriented policies in the third term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government and the compulsion of coalition politics will not be a speedbreaker, Mahindra Group CEO and MD Anish Shah said on Tuesday.
Apart from the continuation of the growth agenda, the industry expects the government to focus on four key areas - manufacturing for the world; women-led development; farm-led prosperity; and sustainability.
In an interview with PTI, Shah said private capex, which has been behind the government capex, is also expected to pick up with the continuation of a stable government at the Centre.
"From an industry perspective, stability is positive. What is also positive is the fact that this government has focused more on capex for long-term growth," said Shah, who is also the president of industry chamber FICCI.
When asked if the compulsions of coalition politics as BJP did not get a clear majority in the recent general elections, could become a speedbreaker for growth, he replied in the negative.
"If we look back over the last 20 or 30 years we have had a number of coalition governments and the economy continued to progress. Yes, we may ask for faster progress now but given the actions that have been taken over the last 10 years, and given the stability in ministries as well...(there is) a lot more confidence that the growth agenda will continue going forward," Shah said.
Asked about specific expectations from the government, Shah said, "One is, I would say continuation of the growth-oriented policies that they've had and the second is acceleration in (four) specific areas."
These include focus on manufacturing by reducing cost and promoting ease of doing business with a view to encourage output of high quality products.
The second area which needs attention is woman-led development, he said, adding, it is important to promote women participation in manufacturing.
"This is something where the corporate sector has an equal role (to play)," Shah added.
He said women should have more representation on the boards of the companies as well as in leadership positions.
Shah listed farm-led prosperity as the third focus area where the industry expects the government to take steps to improve farm productivity, reduce wastage and promote mechanisation.
He said that there is a need to revamp value chains from farm to fork as it will have a long term impact on the farm sector.
Stressing on the significance of sustainability, Shah said the industry is also looking forward to the government to take steps on creating sustainable urban infrastructures with focus on green economy.
He said the high government capex will help "private capex grow and will create greater demand(and) faster growth. That's what we expect...now private capex will also pick up".
When asked what specific steps could be taken to increase private capex, he said, "It will always be a function of current capacity utilisation and demand levelsSo in certain companies or industries, where there is higher demand or higher capacity utilisation, the capex will be faster...we're looking at higher capacity utilisation across sectors and that is what's going to start driving capex right now."
Citing the example of the Mahindra Group, Shah said, We have put in a lot of private capex over the last few years as well. We've tripled capacity in the auto business. We're building a lot more resorts...a lot more communities for real estate in a number of areas".
Reiterating the significance of a stable government at the Centre, he said, it is important because companies will look at that with regard to capex decisions as well. Thereforewe are in a good position now, and that should foster a period of higher growth for private capex as well.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
