Trying to be on the same page! PM Modi brainstorms with India Inc and RBI governor

The ongoing global economic crisis and the Chinese slowdown have brought everyone together. Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Chief Economic Adviser (CEA) Arvind Subramanian along with RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and other economists met key industrialists of India Inc today to discuss the future growth prospects of the Indian economy.

While industry leaders called for interest rate cut in the upcoming Reserve Bank of India (RBI) monetary policy review and more policy action to improve ease of doing business with India, PM Modi asked India Inc to increase risk-taking appetite and step up investments.

The prime minister called bankers and industrialists to brainstorm on how India can manage global economic turbulence, including opportunities for Asia's third-largest economy in China's market and growth woes.

The industry leaders who attended the brain storming session with Modi on 'Recent global events: Opportunities for India' were Reliance Industries Chairman Mukesh Ambani, Tata Group head Cyrus P Mistry, Aditya Birla Group head Kumar Mangalam Birla, Sunil Bharti Mittal of Bharti Airtel and ITC chief Y C Deveshwar.

Jaitley highlighted some of the key takeaways from the brainstorming session:

> Suggestions were made for de-stressing steel and textile sectors.

> Some defensive measures were suggested for countering dumping.

> Bankruptcy code in final stages of drafting.

> India will be less impacted by global turmoil as its fundamentals are reasonably strong.

> Global turmoil will have an impact on equity and currency markets.

> The agriculture sector requires attention.

CEA Arvind Subramanian made a short presentation during the meeting, highlighting how India is relatively better placed amidst the global crisis. Some of the salient features of his presentation are as follow:

> Era of relatively cheap oil likely

> China turmoil a recent development. India will remain relatively attractive.

> China's slowdown will have less impact on India.

> India has untapped potential, especially in infrastructure. Cost of building infrastructure will go down because all inputs to the sector are much cheaper now. This is consistent with the government's plan to up public spending.

> Infrastructure is important for manufacturing and the value added chain

> Many corporates such as Siemens and Xiaomi are committing investment to India. Some of them are investing as a hedge against the China slowdown

(Image: Indiatimes)