Budget 2014: India cannot afford another round of jobless growth, says Kurush Grant of ITC.

NEW DELHI : Stating that India cannot afford another round of jobless growth, Kurush Grant, Executive Director of ITC Ltd told ET, "There can be many ways of providing a stimulus. Government investment in infra projects or projects creating jobs can be a stimulus too."

Asked about the merits of providing economic stimulus, Grant said, "There is an old term 'import substitution' and it can be relevant again, especially in sectors like defence where we import everything."

Talking about his expectations from Prime Minister Narendra Modi government's first budget, Grant said, "The government will have to start buying in certain areas where it is a large buyer, like infrastructure, railways and mines."

"Where the private sector is key, like in FMCG, I feel investments have already started - Nivea's announcement of setting up a factory in Gujarat is one such investment that must have been thought through before the polls but announced later," Grant added.

Grant feels that the mood of the FMCG industry is one of optimism. "There is hope that things will happen - like GST, amendment of the APMC Act and incentives for food processing. The government has been talking about these things and clearly these are good signals but again too early to say anything more," he said.

Commenting on the recent increase in railway freight tariffs, Grant said, "Most people will learn to live with it as with higher energy prices. If roads are good and railways are reasonably high speed, even if diesel prices go up your net cost will come down." "As long as there is good infrastructure, energy price inflation can be contained," he added.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitley will present the NDA government's maiden budget on July 10.

Source : economictimes.indiatimes.com