Golf Courses Empty; Bureaucrats Have Started Working: Nadir Godrej

Panaji: Godrej Industries Ltd's Managing Director Nadir Godrej said on Sunday that bureaucrats in Delhi have begun working under the Modi government, which would improve India's economic growth.

"Compared to the slowdown last year, one positive thing is that bureaucrats are working much harder in Delhi. There are nine o'clock in morning meetings which they never did before. Golf courses in Delhi are all empty now. These factors definitely impact the growth trajectory," Mr Godrej told PTI on the sidelines of a conference.

Mr Godrej also said the Modi government has projected itself to be business friendly which the previous government never did.

"Whether a government is business friendly or not is a different issue, but even saying that it is business friendly itself has a huge impact. Confidence levels have risen. The stock market rose very fast. People felt wealthier and they started spending money. So the economy grew faster," he commented.

The industrialist said that there are also other external factors which are contributing to the nation's growth story.

Mr Godrej said the government had promised several things, of which many things have not happened, but even if only a few things happen, economic growth would be very good.

"Some of the external factors which have nothing to do with the government are very positive. Budget deficit is falling. Current account deficit is improving. GDP growth is also good. In fact, experts at CII meetings say that the only problem now is bad debts of the government which seems to be slowing down infrastructure development," he said.

"Other than this, everything seems to be working well for India right now. The earlier government ran welfare schemes for the poor but the new government is trying to create job opportunities which make government people friendly," he added.