Bad loans likely to dampen investment climate, says CII president

Government policy had created the space for domestic investments to rise in the current financial year, he added

High non-performing assets (NPAs) of public sector banks as well as overleveraging in some sectors might dampen the investment climate in the country, said Rakesh Bharti Mittal, the new president of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) on Thursday. Even then, he expected industry to grow by up to 7.5 per cent in the current financial year. 

Speaking to media persons for the first time after taking charge, Mittal, also the vice chairman of Bharti Enterprises, said the government policy had created the space for domestic investments to rise in the current financial year. He said the government should stick to the current fiscal deficit targets and increase expenditure in capital formation activities.

He also batted for further rationalisation of the goods and services tax regime. “We need to bring in large sectors such as electricity, oil & gas, alcohol and real estate under the GST regime. This should happen at the earliest,” he said.