India needs to continue creating an environment of being an attractive destination for foreign investment and also ensure its fight against Covid is successful, Deloitte CEO Punit Renjen said while stressing the momentum is in the country's favour.
He said India will be the fastest-growing large economy in the world in 2022, registering a growth of somewhere between eight and nine per cent. "This is going to be India's century," Mr. Renjen told PTI in an interview.
Stressing on the urgency of prevailing over the coronavirus, he said the pandemic is an "overhang in terms of economic development".
"The first thing that we need to do is make sure that we prevail over this virus... While doing that, we need to keep the momentum going in terms of the way the government is focused on making sure India is a very attractive environment for foreign direct investment and also for various industries," the Deloitte CEO said.
"I really believe that the momentum is in India's favour and we do need to execute it," said Mr. Renjen who has taken a lead in organizing American companies in helping India fight COVID-19.
Maintaining that the omicron variant of coronavirus will certainly have an impact on everybody, he said that it will impact supply chains, the global economy, including India.
"But I believe India will lead others in terms of growth of large economies. I expect that in the next 10 years, India will be a USD 6 trillion to USD 7 trillion economy -- number three in terms of size," Mr. Renjen said.
"I think all the steps that the (Indian) government is taking around vaccination is very impressive... we must prevail on the virus." Observing that there is a reimagining of the supply chain, he said India has an opportunity to add about a trillion dollars to the relocation of supply chains—ranging from pharmaceuticals to food processing, technology and manufacturing —to India.
"Making sure that reality, as well as perception, is there that India is a very attractive location not only because of the domestic market but also because it is a great place for servicing the rest of the world," Mr. Renjen said.
Responding to a question, he said, "There are some fundamental things like the demographic dividend and the capability that India has. I think some government policies have been really positive in terms of focusing on things that make ease of doing business better in India."
"We carried out a survey a few months ago on foreign direct investment. India is one of the primary destinations for FDI. But, there still needs to be work done."
"There is a perception gap particularly in some Asian countries like Singapore and Japan in terms of what is happening on the ground and what they perceive in terms of ease of doing business. That perception gap needs to be addressed. But India, because of the population size, the opportunity, both in the domestic market as well as a hub for the rest of the world, is a very attractive destination," Mr. Renjen said.
