India Inc, Niti Ayog boss optimistic over growth

Mumbai: India leads the world business community in having the largest number of businessmen optimistic about their country’s economic revival.

A survey conducted by Grant Thornton International Business Report (IBR), between October-December, asked the participants on how optimistic they are for the economy in the next 12 months. Eighty-nine of the Indian respondents said they were confident of economic recovery in 2016. Ireland followed with 88 per cent and Philippines 84 per cent.

The quarterly global survey included  2,580 business leaders across 36 economies. India’s optimism was based on the reforms undertaken by the pro-reform government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Commenting on the survey, Vishesh C. Chandiok,  Grant Thornton India national managing partner, said  “We have a refreshed political will, stretched but resolute businesses, a buzzing start-up space, easing foreign capital policy and some significant legislative reforms in the pipeline — these are all positive indicators which could not have been imagined two years ago.”

Niti Aayog vice-chairman Arvind Panagariya shares this optimism about the economy and feels that Indian economy would grow by eight per cent this fiscal.

“I still think we will get a surprise in the last quarter. For the whole year, given that current numbers are about an average 7.3 per cent, it is little harder to make up. To make up 0.7 per cent, you have to get 8.7 per cent in the second half,” he told new agency PTI.

Terming it as “a little uphill” unless the first two quarters get revised upwards, he said “I’ll be quite happy if we get to the eight per cent in the fourth quarter”.

This optimism runs throughout the Nomura research report which sees the sharp contraction in factory output for November 2015 as just an “aberration” and says the underlying industrial growth is still positive.

It expects India to clock a GDP growth of 7.8 per cent in 2016 and adds that the industrial recovery is likely to remain gradual due to the rising external headwinds.