Tata Steel's TV Narendran on why current crisis won't derail growth

Q: What is your assessment for FY23 at a time of volatile commodity prices and disruption in supply chain?
Ans:
>Corporates should bring in resilience and agility in the way they work
>CII toned down the growth forecast a bit, but overall sentiment among corporates is positive
>CII’s 7.5 to 8% growth estimate makes India one of the fastest growing large economies 
>Corporates keen to spend more capex and hire more people than they did in the past
>The existing headwinds are not expected to derail the growth trajectory of India Inc
 

Q: More than growth, the concern this year is inflation. We know how inflation will impact households. How will it impact corporates? Will corporates pass on all of their input cost increase to customers?  
Ans:
>Some of the input cost increase will be passed on to the consumers
>Many corporates exploring export markets to absorb some of the inflationary pressures
>There will be margin compression, but that won’t translate into losses
>High commodity prices are encouraging companies in the commodity space to invest more
>Govt’s focus on infrastructure spending will sort out supply-chain issues
>With contact sectors (like hospitality and tourism) coming back, household incomes will stabilise
 
 
Q: Will a hit on margins due to inflation impact private-sector capex just as it is picking up?
Ans:
>Sectors that announced their capex programme will continue to spend
>Sectors that have announced capex are mining, chemicals, electronics manufacturing, warehousing etc
>Investments will continue in newer areas like climate economy and renewable energy
>A lot of investment is happening in airport privatisation and ports because volumes are going up
 
 
Q: While the employment situation is better than 2020, it is still a problem. Millions are reportedly leaving the job market, especially women. How bad do you think is the unemployment situation right now? What more can be done from the government’s side and the private sector side?
Ans:
>Employment situation has been tough for many, like migrant workers and women
>Data reveals employment in agriculture has gone up. This is because agriculture has had strong growth
>While we are obsessed with education, there needs to be a greater obsession with skilling
>Government should ensure more sector-specific upskilling of the workforce
>Private sector should also do more towards skill development of workforce
>Private sector needs to work through its contractors to drive that ecosystem
>To bridge that talent gap, the private sector and the government need to work together