India Inc says downside risks persist even as economy picks up

India Inc today said the economy is showing signs of recovery but called for drastic reforms at the ground level to improve investors sentiment and sought serious attempts to revive growth in agriculture sector.
The growth of agriculture sector should be seriously looked at as there is a significant decline, PHD Chamber President Alok B Shriram said in a statement.
"Though there is an uptick in GDP growth...Lots need to be done at the ground level for the physical effects of reforms undertaken during the recent times."
"...Make in India initiative requires drastic reforms in labour laws, land acquisition with ease of doing business at ground level. Sentiment boosting announcements will widen industry growth trajectory and help in achieving potential rate of economic growth," he added.

Ficci, said that some downside risks continue to pervade.
"Agriculture output may be impacted with a sub-normal monsoon forecast this year, weak demand remains a persisting concern and a firm turnaround in the domestic capex cycle is awaited," it said.

Ficci's business confidence surveys indicate that firms are still apprehensive about undertaking fresh investments.
"Inflation, which was a major concern factor has been on downward trajectory. We hope that Reserve Bank will cut the repo rate by 50 bps," it added.
Assocham too said that the policy makers need to continue with the proactive stance.
The government needs to keep on pushing more ground-level reforms and improve implementation so as to realise the economy's true potential, the chamber said.

The Indian economy grew at 7.3 per cent in 2014-15 due to improvement in the performance of both services as well as manufacturing sectors. The fourth quarter of last fiscal saw the economy grow at 7.5 per cent, better than 6.6 per cent recorded for the previous three months.