The government, on August 8, assured the corporate sector that no punitive actions would be taken against corporates if corporate social responsibility (CSR) norms are not met, Sajjan Jindal, chairman and MD of JSW group said.
Jindal was speaking after representatives from India Inc met finance minister Nirmala Sitharaman, who is conducting a series of sectoral meetings to come up with ways to revive a slowing economy.
“Government will soon take steps to revive the economy. We discussed issues of NBFCs (non-banking financial companies), steel, finance sectors,” Jindal said.
Rajiv Memani, Chairman EY India said that the industry asked for stimulating demand and investments in various sectors.
T V Narendran, Vice President, CII, said the Reserve Bank of India started its interest rate easing cycle in February 2019, however, the transmission of the rate-cuts to the end-consumers has remained very gradual and relatively lower than the repo rate revisions.
“This weak and asymmetric monetary transmission process has constrained the economic recovery process by impeding the fall in lending rates which could stoke consumption demand,” Narendran said.
He also said that government needs to look at the small savings rates and reduce them in line with the market rates.
“If that does not happen, then the ability of banks to reduce deposit rates and hence ease the lending rates will be at best limited,” he added.
According to the latest data released by the government, growth of eight core industries dropped to 0.2 percent in June. The eight core sectors- coal, crude oil, natural gas, refinery products, fertiliser, steel, cement and electricity - had expanded by 7.8 percent in June last year.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) lowered its FY20 growth forecast for India to 7 percent from 7.3 percent, but said it will expand at 7.2 percent in FY21. The lower estimate for this fiscal year “reflects a weaker-than-expected outlook for domestic demand”, it said in the latest World E
Discover the latest Business News, Sensex, and Nifty updates. Obtain Personal Finance insights, tax queries, and expert opinions on Moneycontrol or download the Moneycontrol App to stay updated!
