'India story has to be a marathon, not sprint'

On the coming Budget, Kotak said he hoped the vision of India and the road map for the next five years would be part of it

India's growth story will be in the ability to think for the next five years, Uday Kotak, executive vice-chairman and managing director, Kotak Mahindra Bank Limited has said.

At the launch of The Making of India - Game Changing Transitions, a book by Akhilesh Tilotia,  associate director and thematic analyst with Kotak Institutional Equities, Kotak said, "India's story has to be a marathon and not a sprint where we get out of breath in a short-term. The markets believe that India will run a marathon. It is time we really do it."

He explained that the biggest challenge is the dichotomy of short-term pressure to control the fiscal deficit versus the reality that the key thing India needs is investments before consumption.

"We need an investment-led GDP (gross domestic product) rather than a consumption-led GDP," he added.

Elaborating, he said the key focus here would be on public policy and public finance. For instance,better roads before more cars.

With respect to the government's vision, Kotak said that in the making of India, the strategic architecture is the critical piece between vision and execution. He added that in the government, both ministers and bureaucrats have great skills in project management.

On the coming Budget, Kotak said he hoped the vision of India and the road map for the next five years would be part of it. He also said clarity on tax policy was important.