NEW DELHI: Tata Sons Chairman N Chardrasekaran on Monday pointed out global environment risk factors and said that slowing global growth may act as a drag on output. “The global environment has several risk factors, including the energy crisis in Europe, the battle to contain inflation to avoid recession, and ongoing geopolitical conflicts could tamper the growth. Barring the pandemic and the global financial crisis, next year may mark the lowest global growth since the millennium began. We will need to keep careful watch on commodity price rises, in particular,” said Chardrasekaran.
These concerns by the head of India’s largest conglomerate comes at a time when rise in commodity prices has pushed prices of products across segments to record high levels and many top financial institutions have cut down India’s GDP growth estimate for the current fiscal and financial year 2024. Add to it, the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine continues to heat geopolitical tensions.
“That said, next year we are likely to see inflation gradually moderate. India is well positioned, and we will continue to be the fastest growing major economy, supported by increasing consumption, consumer confidence and investment. Slowing global growth may act as a drag on output, but our rising share of global manufacturing should provide some buffer/insulation,” said Chardrasekaran.
Chandrasekaran, in a year end message to Tata employees, also mentioned the milestones achieved by the group which included taking back the control of Air India; the launch of Tata Neu; and Tata Motors passenger vehicles crossing 500,000 cars sold within a calendar year, with Tata EV cars accounting for 10% of the total sales.
Tata Group, which had founded Air India in the 1930s, took back the control of the airline in January this year and since then implemented multiple changes, including consolidation of group airlines. Tata Neu, meanwhile, is yet to challenge the might of leading e-commerce players. He said India is well placed, and the Tata Group has tremendous opportunity.