Mumbai: CNBC-TV18’s India Business Leader Awards (IBLA) is regarded as the gold standard in recognizing business excellence in India. Continuing its legacy of honoring ‘Leaders of Change’, the band geared up ahead of the 16th IBLA amidst all gusto with an exclusive TownHall event, held virtually on Friday, March 5.
The knowledge-sharing discussion, hosted and moderated by Managing Editor and Anchor, Shereen Bhan where she welcomed the esteemed guests and asked them what their expectations are on how the banking sector will pan out over the next Financial Year alongside Executive Editor, Latha Venkatesh, saw the Honourable Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman shed light on ‘Paving the path for India’s Economic Resurgence’ along with eminent leaders such as K V Kamath — Former President of the New Development Bank; Zarin Daruwala — Cluster CEO, India and South Asia markets (Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal), Standard Chartered Bank; Uday Kotak — Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Bank, Rajesh Gopinathan, CEO and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy Services; Dr. Sanjiv Goenka, Chairman of the RPG Group; Suresh Narayanan, Chairman, and Managing Director – Nestlé India Limited; enlightened the viewers on various policies, budget norms, and key learnings that will pave the way for economic growth.
Speaking at the exclusive TownHall, FM Nirmala Sitharaman shared her thoughts on Cryptocurrency, saying, “We are working with the RBI on a host of issues such as cryptocurrency, ARC/AMC, DFI. The government is planning to take a calibrated decision on cryptocurrencies, and we want to make sure there is a window available for experiments in the crypto world. While the world is moving fast with technology, we cannot pretend that we don’t want it.” Adding to that, she also reiterated the need for the private sector to lend a helping hand by stating, “With all eyes towards the future, we want the participation of the Indian private sector to set the pace for India’s revival. Going forward, the government will also run the relay race with the private sector and come up with policies that are favorable to the private sector. With an eye towards utilizing and expanding capacity, we look forward to doing maximum work in the first quarter of FY22.”
Sharing his valuable insight at the TownHall, KV Kamath said that he sees the budget as an economic blueprint for the next decade, where things will surprise us in the positive as well as lay the roadmap for further growth. Along with the honorable FM and KV Kamath, each of these industry leaders added immense value and perspective to the event. Amongst those was Zarin Daruwala who endorsed her support to Bad Banks and said that they, being a good thing, are clearly enabling Indian banks to focus on corporate lending and help aggregate debt. Reiterating the fact that its success will entirely depend on the kind of talent it is able to attract, Zarin also highlighted how simple must the legal process be in order for the bad bank to resolve quickly. Another luminary who impressed all with his outlook and forward-thinking was Uday Kotak who praised India’s recovery in the recent quarter and said that he expects the investment cycle to kick start in the next 6 months to a year. Sharing the same thoughts, Suresh Narayanan affirmed the fact that India’s consumption story continues to be strong and economically we need to stay positive about it because it is here to stay. He also mentioned, although India saw a bad Q2, Q3 and Q4 are showing signs of recovery.
Responding to some queries and legit concerns Hon’ble Finance Minister raised the level of optimism on India’s path to revival.
Watch the entire TownHall event at the link below:
Eminent leaders of India Inc engage with FM @nsitharaman on the road to recovery in the new normal, setting the tone for the launch of #CNBCTV18IBLA #Leadersofchange. @StanChartIN @ShereenBhan @latha_venkatesh https://t.co/lvBSuRtCFC
— CNBC-TV18 (@CNBCTV18News) March 5, 2021
