Golf courses empty; bureaucrats have started working: Godrej

Godrej Industries Ltd's Managing Director Nadir Godrej said here today that bureaucrats in Delhi have begun working under the Modi government, which would improve economic growth in India.
"Compared to the slowdown last year, one positive thing, is that bureaucrats are working much harder in Delhi. There are nine o'clock in morning meetings which they never did before. Golf courses in Delhi are all empty now. These factors definitely impact the growth trajectory," Godrej told PTI on the sidelines of the Fourth International Conference on Soaps, Detergent and Cosmetics, which began here today.
Godrej said the Modi government has projected itself to be business friendly which the previous government never did.

"Whether a government is business friendly or not is a different issue, but even saying that it is business friendly itself has a huge impact. Confidence levels have risen. The stock market rose very fast. People felt wealthier and they started spending money. So the economy grew faster," he commented.
The industrialist said that there are also external factors which have nothing to do with the government, that has begun contributing to the nation's growth story.
"From the year 2000 to 2013, commodity prices were rising. There was an increase in prices of metal, oil, agricultural commodities and others. Part of the reason was Chinese demand and part of it was financial speculation in the commodities market. Chinese demand was huge. High prices brought new supply of commodities and ultimately the prices boomed. That has worked positively for India," he said.

Replying to a question, he said that it is sheer coincidence that commodity prices scaled down when the Modi government came to power.