Relative importance

Tushar Poddar, chief India economist for Goldman Sachs, laid great emphasis on the global impact of US interest rates while making a presentation at an event in Delhi last week. During the question and answer (Q&A) session at the end of the presentation, he said that going forward, the drivers for India's growth would be skilled labour, human capital and the micro-environment. Surjit S Bhalla, chairman and MD of Oxus Investments, and part of the panel, did not take kindly to the fact that the topic of interest rate cuts in India was being ignored. "Notice how much Goldman Sachs and others worry about a 25-basis point increase or decrease in the US interest rate. But a 400-basis point decrease in India's interest rate is irrelevant for them... I don't know if this is a conspiracy or not," he got back when his chance came at the end of the Q&A session.