Business lobby expects uptick in India consumption by next quarter

[DELHI] India's consumption demand is set to pick up by the first quarter of the financial year beginning April 1, bolstered by measures to boost economic growth in the upcoming federal budget, said an industry lobby group.

"The private sector is showing some signs of recovery," Chandrajit Banerjee, director-general of the Confederation of Indian Industry, said in an interview with Bloomberg Television's Haslinda Amin and Yvonne Man.

"The key expectation from the budget is to see how public expenditure grows, as it can really ignite the sector where we see weak demand."

The industry, hit by some curbs to control the Omicron variant, is expecting relief measures in the budget due Tuesday. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman will probably boost spending in next fiscal's budget by about 14 per cent year-on-year to 39.6 trillion rupees (S$714.1 billion), according to the median of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

With supply-chain disruptions expected to ease by the second half of the year, manufacturing is expected to get a further push, he said.

BLOOMBERG