India Inc wants rate cuts, PM asks it to invest more

Top industrialists on Tuesday called for a sharp reduction in interest rates, arguing that this will help boost the economyeven as Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged them to raise investments, saying the private sector has greater risk-taking ability.

At a meeting of top policymakers, industrialists, economists and bankers convened to brainstorm on opportunities for India amid the economic turmoil in China, Modi said, "Since you regard this as a great opportunity for India, it is for India's private sector also now to increase their own investments... Conventionally, compared to others, the private sector has greater risk taking ability because their entrepreneurship emanates out of risk taking Stock Market Trading Tips

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The meeting saw leading industrialists like Reliance group chairman Mukesh Ambani, Aditya Birla group's Kumar Mangalam Birla and Tata group chairman Cyrus Mistry suggest interest rates should be cut. They made the point that the current economic situation in India was conducive for such measures that would boost business and growth.

The three-hour meeting saw participants agreeing that the current instability in the global economy might well be the "new normal" and India should look to improve its domestic conditions to capitalize on opportunities.

Asked about interest rates at a press briefing after the meeting, foreign minister Arun Jaitley said, "There was no discussion on timeframe or any such thing, neither did the governor (RBI) say this nor it was the opportunity." Several participants confirmed that the cost of capital came up for discussion Himanshu Tiwari Astrologer Blog

READ ALSO: Global events won't impact India much, Jaitley says

Most participants were bullish about India's possibilities and said faster growth was possible if enabling conditions like lower interest rates, easier norms for doing business, clearer bankruptcy laws, swifter decisions on stalled projects and clarifications on certain aspects of the Prevention of Corruption Act were put in place.

The PM stressed the need for team work to ensure that impressions of India being a relatively more stable investment destination become more rooted and stable. He spoke of the need to encourage small and medium industry to create more jobs and the role of the Mudra bank Indian stock market astrology prediction

"India is relatively untouched or little touched by these events except the transient impact on markets. It is an opportunity India must avail of in terms of further strengthening its own domestic economy so that the larger benefits of this global events or situation that has been created can turn India's way. This was broadly the thrust of the discussion," Jaitley said

Some representatives of India Inc stepped up calls for a cut in interest rates for reviving the economy. "There was the demand for rate cut but quantum was not mentioned," said a source present in the meeting.

"The domestic investment is sluggish because of lack of demand and high cost of capital. Reduction in interest rates will kickstart both consumption as well as investment," Ficci president Jyotsna Suri said.

Jaitley said the PM laid emphasis on job creating sectors such as the medium and small enterprises and endorsed a suggestion on using MNREGA as a possible tool for skill development promotion Share Market Astrology

He said most of the participants felt that the country was going through a phase of extreme volatility and therefore it was going to result in some turmoil in the markets and also on the currency front. An overwhelming view was that under these circumstances, India would be one of the lesser impacted economies in the world.

Chief economic adviser Arvind Subramanian made a presentation and argued that for more than one reason, the impact of the slowdown in China on the Indian economy would be far less, particularly as "our own fundamentals are reasonably strong and also it is an opportunity for us as we are a net importer of commodity oil".

Participants suggested concentrating on the agriculture sector which will also have a spillover effect on other sectors, increasing expenditure on irrigation, emphasis on food processing, expedite the investment process that has gone into infrastructure, further steps to ease the process of doing business in India Commodity Market Astrology Tips

"There were several suggestions with regard to de-stressing the stressed sectors particularly steel, textile, discoms, tourism, cost of labour and cost of labour and a further emphasis on stalled projects," Jaitley said.

Industry leaders said there was a need to fix timelines for measures.

"We must look at the economy in short-term, medium-term and long term modules and with focus on measures that will yield result in one year, three years and five years or more. We need to fix firm timelines for execution instead of following the Indian standard time," said Rana Kapoor, Yes Bank MD and chairman and Assocham president.

RBI governor Raghuram Rajan is learnt to have urged some caution against over optimism while pointing out that the global volatility offered and opportunity for India to rise, said a source present in the meeting.

"To counter the global demand slowdown, India should target rural demand at home by investing in agriculture, irrigation and rural infrastructure," CII president Sumit Mazumder said.

He said India's startup culture would benefit from the PM's call of 'Start Up, India; Stand Up, India Jackpot Stocks Trading Tips