"This is probably the most exciting time for a food company to be in India," said Suresh Narayanan, CMD, Nestlé India, at BT MindRush 2023 held in Mumbai on Wednesday. He was speaking about the 'Indian consumers of 2023'
Narayanan said that there is a multi-generational consumption that's happening in India. The good vector between taste, indulgence, nutrition, value and lifestyle is redefining the consumption patterns of India, he said, adding that "there is a heightened level of consciousness"
Experts from various industries gathered at BT MindRush 2023 held on Wednesday, where they engaged in a discussion on topics such as what consumers today are on the lookout for, the India growth story and more
Dinesh Kumar Khara, Chairman of SBI, said that there is no slowdown as far as demand for home loans is concerned. "Our home loan sanctions last quarter were off by 29 per cent," said Khara at BT’s flagship event
He added that there is a pent-up demand post Covid-19 as people are looking at bigger accommodations. “We have noticed this demand across the country – in rural, urban areas. It is a very positive sign of growth,” Khara said
Experts also discussed the India growth story during the session. "To me, the India story is strong but we cannot ignore the fact that the world is slowing down a bit. There is still a fair amount of concern, whether it is the US or the Europe. I do see growth to be a bit more of a challenge now," said Sanjeev Krishan, Chairperson, PwC in India
Speaking about Indian industries going 'green', TV Narendran, CEO and MD, Tata Steel, stated that the advantage India has is that it is "still creating new capacities". "The rest of the world is trying to substitute capacities which are not green with the one that are green, whereas we can create green capacities," he added
While Covid-19 brought to the forefront the healthcare infrastructure of the country, are we better placed now? Suneeta Reddy, MD, Apollo Hospitals Enterprise, answered. "We definitely have not forgotten the lessons of Covid-19," she said
However, she called for more capex into healthcare. "A lesson from Covid is that private sector has to be incentivised to work with the government or independently to add additional beds and therefore add more capex into healthcare," Reddy said at BT Mindrush 2023