Predictions for 2024: Skilling to green finance, need to get things right

Elections. That’s the biggest thing the Indian equity markets will be looking towards in 2024. The Indian equity market has been an outperformer and a safe haven in 2023 largely on account of good policies and political stability. That is key. Personally, I am very bullish on India.

But India needs trained manpower to truly leverage its demographic dividend. So I would emphasise skill development centres nationwide.

To truly make the best environment for FDI into the country, we must harmonise Centre-state relations. There should be a cell with representatives from both the Centre and the states to be a one-stop solution provider.


We have seen the blooming of young entrepreneurs on a huge scale. But financing is still a challenge. So ideally, we should have a marketplace or an offline exchange for private market equity.

Among global factors, the Russia-Ukraine and Israel-Palestine conflicts have led to uncertainties. Human casualties are rising and geopolitical uncertainties are causing havoc in commodity prices.Nobody wants this flux. Hopefully will see a closure of these conflicts.

Finally, I would say global interest rates need to cool down and the US Federal Reserve will have to
lead the way as it’s clear the worries around hard inflation are largely overstated. At best there could be a soft landing. Plus, it will also be an election year in the US. So there will be a lot of global attention on
two of the world’s largest elections. Finally, as someone passionate about wildlife and nature, 2024 will
be a key year for all of us to make environment and sustainability the centrepiece of global narrative.

(The author is the Chairman of DSP Investment Managers)