Industry body Assocham’s newly appointed president Ajay Singh said that he foresees a significant rise in private investment in the coming 2-3 years, driven by the Centre’s capex push.
“It cannot be that expenditure in the economy is largely public expenditure. The private sector has to participate and with the environment that is being created today, with the infrastructure spend that the government is doing, opportunities available to companies both in India and overseas. I think you will see an uptick in private investment in the next 2-3 years,” Singh said addressing a press conference.
Singh, who is also the chairman and managing director of SpiceJet, said he believes the private sector has begun to realise that it needs to seize India’s moment.
He also said that it was time for the Reserve Bank of India to push the pause button to the hike in repo rates as sectors like auto and housing need a signal that interest rates are easing.
“RBI has done a fabulous job in the way they have managed interest rates. We do feel, however, that at this time, any further hike in interest rates is possibly going to have a somewhat adverse impact on certain sectors. Therefore, our suggestion would be to consider carefully before any further hikes,” Singh said.
Stating that several pandemic-hit MSMEs were unable to pay statutory dues on time, Singh said, Assocham will urge the government to give concessions on interest rates to such units.
“We will be suggesting to the government that as many of these companies were unable to pay on time, statutory charges and various dues to government authorities, we would request moderation of charges, the interest that the government charges on such delayed payments,” he said.
Further, he said several Assocham members have raised the issue of timely payments by the government authorities to them which remains a cause of concern.
“We will certainly try and play the role of that bridge take some of those problems to the government for solutions,” Singh said.