'Of course, we must look into environmental factors, but not by stopping development'

P Vaidyanathan Iyer: What is your assessment of the economy today and what do you expect from the annual Budget considering there’s an election year ahead of us?

Adi Godrej: It is clear that the growth rate this year will be the lowest of the past decade. The government’s statistical department has projected it at 5 per cent and at best it will be 5.5 per cent. For a developing country at this stage of development, that’s an extremely low growth rate, especially since we have the potential to grow between 8-10 per cent very easily. It’s a question of the right policy, the right decisions and the right kind of governance. If the reform process is taken forward strongly, we can achieve a growth of above 8 per cent. For example, if we were to pass the Goods and Services Tax (GST), that alone from the next day would add 2 percentage points to India’s GDP, other things being equal. Other reforms like the Direct Tax Code or opening up FDI could be a multiplier factor. Another factor affecting growth is that decision-making in the government has become very slow. Many projects, especially in infrastructure, mining and power, get bogged down with clearances. Environment clearances have been very slow. Now a new Cabinet

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