Economy Doing Much Better Than It Feels, Says Adi Godrej

The Indian economy is doing much better than what is being generally perceived, according to Adi Godrej, head of the $4-billion Godrej Group.

Speaking at the India Economic Summit of the World Economic Forum, Godrej said the growth rate was “reasonable” in April and May, but slipped in June due to destocking ahead of the Goods and Services Tax implementation.

Citing the example of Godrej Consumer Products, the veteran industrialist said the company did not stop production in June. “We continued producing but cleared goods only in July” to avoid input tax credit.

Most manufacturers showed much less production than what they actually produced leading to an aberration in growth, he added.

Godrej also said that people should wait and see as GST will add significant value to the gross domestic product.

Here's a clip of the panel discussion with DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek, Godrej Group Chairman Adi Godrej and Keiko Honda, executive vice-president and chief executive officer of Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency moderated by BloombergQuint's Harsha Subramaniam