India Is In A Position Every Economy Would Love To Be In: Century Ply's Exe Director Keshav Bhajanka

New Delhi: The Executive Director of Century Ply - a leading manufacturer of wood panel and decorative products - Keshav Bhajanka, in an exclusive interaction with Republic on Monday, speaks about the primary expectations from the upcoming budget for 2024 slated on Tuesday, challenges faced by the manufacturing industry, the Make in India initiative, and much more.  

Primary Expectations From Budget

When asked about the primary expectations from the budget, Bhajanka told Republic, "We should look at the budget in two parts - short-term and long-term. In the long term, the government has been investing in the past two years in a substantial manner on the infrastructure. I think this commitment to improve our infrastructure and to increase long-term spending on infrastructure is going to help all industries including manufacturing, real estate, etc."

Speaking about the short-term part, he said, "The government needs to put some thrust on housing and the PM has already announced the Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojna Scheme. Besides, some sort of interest subsidies, interest exemptions on housing loans could perhaps spur further demand and boost the economy in the short term."

On Challenges Faced By Manufacturing Industry

Bhajanka said the one challenge that the industry including his was facing was the issue of inflated raw material costs, due to which the ability of manufacturers to sustain has become 'extremely difficult.'

He said, "One way the government can address this is by lowering the interest burden overall. But I think some sort of support for manufacturing enterprises could really help."

Make in India Initiative

When asked what additional measures the government should be undertaking to boost local manufacturing capabilities, Bhajanka quipped, "The investment infrastructure that the government is undertaking is going to reduce the logistic cost, which is a step in the right direction, even though it may take some time. The Make in India initiative can be aided by sustainable exports - it gives us economies of scale. To do this, the government needs to incentivise exports like what other countries like China or Vietnam are already doing."

On Steps Govt Can Take That Would Help Manufacturing Sectors...

Bhajanka said if the government can take certain steps towards tax resumption on the interest rates for housing loans or can provide some sort of impetus towards investment in real estate by virtue of tax incentive, that could help the manufacturing sector and a lot of sectors relate to it.

Economic Survey

When asked if he believed India lays the trajectory for the days to come or perhaps some red areas the government may have to look at after we have been able to insulate ourselves from the kind of global tensions, Bhajanka said, "In terms of insulating ourselves from the global happenings, our government has done a brilliant job. We are hoping this new resilient India continues. We must give credit where credit is due. Today India is in a position that perhaps every other economy in the world would love to be in."