Handful of groups investing in India; low consumption growth a concern: Parth Jindal

Mint

8 hours ago

Mumbai, Aug 4 (PTI) Only a "handful" of corporates are investing in India, JSW Group scion Parth Jindal said on Monday, stressing the need for "democratisation" when it comes to private capital expenditure.
The Mumbai-headquartered group having interest in cement, steel, ports and sports, believes in India's growth potential and will invest USD 50 billion over the next five years, the 35-year-old Parth, the son of Sajjan Jindal, told reporters here.
"You have today a handful of groups investing in India. We need it to be more democratised. We need more MSMEs to invest. We need everyone to invest," Jindal, the managing director of the USD 49 billion group's cement and paints arms, told reporters here.
It can be noted that some other industry captains, including billionaire banker Uday Kotak, have expressed concerns around investments getting done by a few groupings in the past.
The JSW Group is investing across its businesses, Jindal said, pointing out that while his father Sajjan Jindal -- the group chairman and managing director -- has announced investing USD 60 billion over five years, group executives are pegging it at USD 40 billion and he himself feels it will be USD 50 billion.
"We believe that there's incredible potential in India, incredible potential to export from India as well. And also really... in the China plus one strategy," the Jindal family scion said.
Other private companies have opted deleverage or paying off their loans over investment in capacity addition, which is more sought after for the growth impetus it gives, Jindal said.
Private companies have strong balance sheets, but they are not investing, he rued, adding that the government is also "perplexed" about this phenomenon because the fundamentals of the economy are very strong.
Stating that manufacturing in India needs to go up, Jindal pointed to challenges around land acquisition and labour laws being a deterrent to invest.
"(there are) so many laws, so many rules... tribal land, SC (Scheduled Caste) land, ST (Scheduled Tribe) land, OBC (Other Backward Classes) land. I mean, it's very difficult for any foreign company to come and understand or even a startup to come and think about it. So, that needs reform," Jindal said.
The government has done a lot of reform, and its arms like the Niti Aayog are looking into how this can be reversed.
Jindal also flagged concerns around the sagging consumption growth in the country, pointing out that it is a "tale of two Indias" where the top 20 crore people in the country are spending.
"...it's a tale of almost two Indias. Now, you have a widening gap between the top 200 million Indians and the rest. And that's a really big concern because you're seeing value growth, but you're not seeing volume growth. And that could only mean that, you know, that this divide is increasing," he said.
Jindal said JSW Group looks at manufacturing as its core strength, where it can put up a big plant right from acquiring a piece of land to erecting the facility.
The group will list either the e-commerce arm JSW One or JSW MG Motors over the next two years, he said.