ET Now GBS 2024: This is India's decade and even beyond that, says ITC CMD Sanjiv Puri

A growth rate of 6-7% is not only possible to achieve but is a minimum that India should be aiming for, said Sanjiv Puri, chairman and managing director, ITC Ltd, adding that the country has built a strong foundation through several years of "purposeful policy" intervention which gives it headroom for growth.

"This is India's decade and even beyond that," Puri said while speaking on Saturday, adding that several surveys of top business leaders have also shown a similar growth potential for India.

"Look at the macros, inflation is already very well managed. The public infrastructure, digital infrastructure are being developed and there are incentives to start making the country a manufacturing hub. All this augurs well for the future," he said.


India is a powerhouse of services, has the demographic advantage and the G20 presidency has uplifted the image of India globally, Puri added. "We have a lot of tourism assets, a new vector we see from a policy perspective that is going to be pursued," he said.

Talking about the rural economy he said the country's resilience and one or two good crop cycles will turn around the rural sentiment.

India's economy is growing after a spate of very serious challenges such as covid, inflation after geopolitical events, extreme weather conditions. "It may be growing, maybe less than expected, but it is still growing," he said, adding that the investment in the rural economy in terms of infrastructure, connectivity in rural areas, housing, digital infrastructure, and distribution of free food grains have yielded results.

"I think these are some of the very important steps taken by the government in terms of investment in the rural economy, which has made it resilient," said the head of the tobacco-to-soap conglomerate.

Puri said he sees no reason why the growth rates will not improve progressively over a period of time. "One or two good crop cycles and we will see with all those situations turn around," he said.

Talking about the growth of his company, Puri said the aspiration is to grow much ahead of the economic growth of the country as the management is focused on preparing ITC's portfolio for the present and the future.

The company is preparing its portfolio for today, tomorrow and the day after, the business leader said adding, that the growth of the company is mostly linked to India's economy with only a small part of it connected with global growth rates which are not as promising as the domestic opportunities.