Time for India Inc to join the capex party and invest more, says Birla

Industrialist Kumar Mangalam Birla on Friday exhorted India Inc to push up the pedal on investment.

The government has increased its capital expenditure five-fold in the last decade, Birla said while speaking at a Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry's 189th foundation day event here.

In the comments that come amid concerns of slowing private capex, chairman of the Aditya Birla Group said his diversified grouping and other large conglomerates have embarked on unprecedented capacity expansion spree.

"It is now time for India Inc to join the party this investment fervour needs to be far more widespread," Birla said.

"We (businesses) have the capacity and the responsibility to define the vision for development and shape the India of tomorrow," the billionaire added.

The comments come at a time when growth has hit a seven-quarter low of 5.4 per cent for the July-September period as per official data. Reluctance to invest and a preference to operate at higher capacities has been diagnosed as one of the contributors to the growth slowdown.

Birla said the government has done its bit by creating the enabling ecosystem and it is now for the businesses to drive growth forward.

There is a need to think big, he said, adding that India can rewire the supply chains of the world as a manufacturing and service hub.

He said the new vision should be globally benchmarked, and added, "we stand at a pivotal juncture where Indians' ambition and imagination will pave the way for progress".

India will also have to devote sufficient focus on innovation, talent and sustainability to achieve the stated goal of turning into a developed country by 2047, he said.

He said 18-year-old chess grandmaster D Gukesh's historic feat is emblematic of the rise of a new India, which is young and self-assured.