Strongly denying that economy is slowing down, CII President K V Kamath on Monday said one has to see India Inc's performance in the next two quarters to pass a judgement.
Pointing out that corporates have an investment pipeline of $700 billion to $750 billion, Kamath, also the Managing Director and CEO of ICICI Bank, said there are reports that order book of companies now is "much higher."
"I am not seeing slowdown," he said at a CII function here and later interacting with journalists.
He wondered how some people were talking about slowdown. "Where is the slowdown scenario?" he said.
Kamath said inflation and surging oil and commodity prices are challenges but noted that "what's insulating us is the huge pipeline of investment that's happening" and also the fact that services sector contributes to around 60 per cent of India's GDP.
Corporate India has an investment pipeline of $700 billion to $750 billion, Kamath said, adding that there are reports that order book of companies now is "much higher" than it was at the same time last year.
"Investment is not going to be a challenge," he further said.
Kamath said global scenario is clearly under pressure and there are a "whole lot of gloom" but added "We (India) will grow despite what's happening around us."
Asked if the consumer credit has slowed down, he said "consumer credit is already slow. On the corporate side, credit offtake is excellent."
He said the liquidity situation was comfortable a while back but successive hike in CRR had a desired impact.
On the nuclear deal with the US, the CII President said the biggest beneficiary is going to be the power sector in India. Indian industries would also benefit from having better power supply, he said.
Kamath said the theme of CII for 2008-09 is 'India @ 75: The Emerging Agenda', a comprehensive vision to facilitate India's transformation into an economically strong, technologically vital and ethically sound global leader by 2022.
