With the general elections just a few weeks away, a big question on people's mind has been the state of the Indian economy. Talking exclusively to Business Today TV's Managing Editor, Siddharth Zarabi, R. Dinesh, President of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Chairman of TVS Supply Chain Solutions, said that the mood at the moment is of optimism as to the state of Indian economy.
"Actually, if you look at from the industrial perspective, I think there is a high degree of optimism when it comes to looking at the future. And as all of us know, while there have been many geopolitical uncertainties and issues which we all face, and some which are actually not easy for us to predict, the good news is that, I think [with] the kind of base which India has today, [that optimism is warranted]," Dinesh said.
However, as several economists and experts have pointed out, India, in the post-pandemic situation, has witnessed a K-shaped recovery, with some sectors doing well, and some not so well. To this, the CII head pointed out that although the US has been holding out quite well, but there indeed is some concern when it comes to European and the UK markets. This, he feels, could have a bearing on the Indian economy. However, despite that, there is a sense of 'cautious optimism' as to the state overall.
"I think again there is a cautious optimism across the board. You are right. I think the global markets still have not come back to the recovery levels, which we would expect. But having said that, I think the US has been holding up quite well. And, of course, we are watching for the US elections as to what is going to happen there. But Europe and the UK, which have been going through what I would call a very low rate of growth or, to a certain extent, even a small recession," Dinesh said.
According to him, it would take at least 2-3 quarters more before the sectors that are lagging behind, such as the IT sector, begin to come back. However, he feels that there are a lot of opportunities to be had in the services sector.