BT MindRush 2024: Multi-sector panel underscores Indian economy’s bright spots and competitive edge

The diverse panel comprising Tata Elxsi’s Manoj Raghavan, APAR Industries’ Kushal N. Desai, Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals’ Sailesh C. Mehta and Lemon Tree Hotels’ Patanjali G. Keswani, underlined the nation's potential for growth and innovation

A diverse panel spanning tech and software design, fertilisers, cable manufacturing and hospitality industries was bullish about the Indian economy’s many bright spots which were proving to be opportunities for their respective businesses, underlining the nation's potential for growth and innovation, at Business Today’s MindRush 2024 event in Mumbai on Saturday.

In a session entitled ‘India Inc’s Competitive Edge: How Resilience Fuels Growth’, Patanjali G. Keswani, CMD, Lemon Tree Hotels, kicked off the discussion by saying that India is at a different point in its history where various discretionary items have become non-discretionary for a large part of the population. Pointing to the surge in air travel as an example, he said: “Three-quarters of discretionary items in India for hundreds of millions of Indians will become routine. When that happens, it's balle balle for most of the discretionary items. In every consumer discretionary category in India, you are going to have an insane amount of demand. That is what I am betting on.”

Manoj Raghavan, CEO & MD, Tata Elxsi, said the primary focus of their customers in R&D is on EV technology. The company makes about 50% of its revenues from the automotive industry. Whether the US, Europe or even in India, a significant portion of R&D is diverted to electric vehicles, but he added that last three months’ data indicates that a lot of people are not happy with the overall evolution of the EV market. “The range anxiety is real in other countries, unlike on Indian roads where you can never drive 400 kms a day. You drive maybe 50 -100 km a day to office and back. So, there are a lot of challenges even in developed world for EVs to really pick up,” he pointed out.

Speaking about the government involvement in the fertiliser industry, Sailesh C. Mehta, CMD, Deepak Fertilisers & Petrochemicals Corporation, said agriculture productivity would not have gone up without the government’s policy imperative to subsidise fertilisers for farmers. “But today, the industry has matured very well and it needs to be freed up. It needs to be treated like a normal market-driven industry.”

He highlighted that the industry is pushing for direct benefit transfer to farmers rather than through the conduit of the fertiliser industry. “If that policy shift happens, we will see a lot of innovation and transformation in the whole approach to agriculture which has stratified today. What was good earlier, we now need to grow out of.”

Amid the government’s commentary that the private sector needs to increase its capex spends to boost investments in the country, Kushal N. Desai, CMD, APAR Industries, said they noticed a definite capex increase among private players in the country. The company manufactures cables used in various industries. “The amount of solar and wind energy being put in, most of it is coming through private investments. The government is just playing the role of a regulator. That itself is a capital expansion boost.” He further added that talks with customers revealed that capacity utilisations have increased to the tune of 80-90%. “A lot of capex is coming up. That cycle is definitely on,” he said.