Even coalition government must work for growth: Anand Mahindra

Mumbai, April 29 (IANS) Chairman of Mahindra group Anand Mahindra said on Monday that whosoever comes to power at the Centre after the Lok Sabha elections, including a coalition government, must work for growth and development.

"We all have been infected by the virus of progress and growth. Even if a coalition government comes to power, it should work towards progress and growth," Mahindra said after casting his vote at a booth in Malabar Hill in the Mumbai South parliamentary constituency which went to the polls in the fourth phase of Lok Sabha elections on Monday.

The big names of India Inc who have so far exercised their franchise in the fourth phase include Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Shaktikanta Das, Reliance Communications Chairman Anil Ambani, Chairman of Godrej group Adi Godrej, Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran, HDFC Chairman Deepak Pareakh and its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Keki Mistry, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD) of JSW group Sajjan Jindal, BSE CEO Ashish Chauhan and Jet Airways founder Naresh Goyal.

While many are expecting a fractured mandate in the ongoing elections, the India Inc is looking at flow of reforms, continuing government spendings to boost consumption, capital formation and nothbound domestic demand.

In the first three phases of Lok Sabha polls, voting was been held in 302 parliamentary constituencies while 72 seats went to the polls in the fourth phase on Monday to decide the fate of 961 candidates.

The Indian economy is currently passing through a slow growth phase and the industry is looking up to the new govenrment, which will assume power in June, for some bold reforms.

While India's growth forecasts have been lowered in recent times by the RBI, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Central Statistics Office (CSO), the Asian Development Bank (ADB) has called for policies to boost the manufacturing sector and small businesses, the cornerstones of Indian economy which were the worst affected by demonetisation and Goods and Services Tax (GST) roll out.

Earlier this month, the World Bank had pegged India's GDP growth rate for FY20 at 7.5 per cent, to be driven by private investment, better exports and domestic consumption.

Both the ADB and the RBI had earlier this month cut their 2019-20 growth projection for India to 7.2 per cent from 7.4 per cent, blaming the rising risks to global economic growth as well as weakening domestic investment activity.

India is expected to grow at 7.3 per cent in 2019-20 and 7.5 per cent in 2020-21, the IMF said in its latest World Economic Outlook report, which is a downward revision from its outlook released in January by 20 basis points for each year.

The Indian economy grew at 6.6 per cent in the December quarter, the slowest in five quarters which prompted the CSO to trim its 2018-19 forecast to 7 per cent in February from 7.2 per cent estimated the previous month.

Rating agency Fitch cut India's GDP forecast in FY20 to 6.8 per cent citing slow momentum in manufacturing and agriculture sectors, while Moody's said that the Indian economy is expected to grow at 7.3 per cent in the calendar years 2019 and 2020.