India needs more rate cuts, says Mittal

India needs more stimulus measures and interest-rate cuts to return Asia’s third-biggest economy to 9 percent growth, said billionaire Sunil Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel Ltd., the nation’s largest mobile-phone company.

“India will need another stimulus, but it won’t be to the same degree of the United States,” he said in an interview in New York. “India has not lost growth, but it lost momentum. It needs growth to get back to 9 percent sooner rather than later.”

India, which grew an average 9 percent in the past four years, said its economy expanded 5.3 percent in the three months to Dec. 31, the slowest pace since 2003.

He said a global recovery will have to be led by the U.S. because of the size of its economy

“The global recovery will have to be led by this nation,” said Mittal, who was in New York as part of an Indian business delegation. “No other nation can come close to their economic stimulus.” Mittal, ranked by Forbes magazine as the 59th richest person in the world this year, said he was concerned about growing protectionism as the U.S. economy slows.

“The U.S. should not stop the H-1 program as it is very important for India,” he said.