At Dubai Expo, SBI chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara hails India’s vaccination drive

SBI chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said he is sure that the confidence in the Indian economy would go a long way in terms of meeting the common man’s aspirations

India is ready to move into the next orbit of growth with the hugely successful implementation of the Covid-19 vaccination programme, State Bank of India (SBI) chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said on Saturday.

SBI chairman Dinesh Kumar Khara said the country has lived through one of the most challenging times and has come out of it in a very successful manner

“Actually, it [the vaccination drive] has enhanced the confidence level of the common man as well as the economy,” he said at the India Pavilion of EXPO2020 Dubai. In a historic achievement on October 21, India achieved administering over one billion Covid-19 vaccine doses. On November 6, the cumulative number of vaccinations jumped to 1,079,219,546.

Khara said the kind of vaccine drive India has seen makes all Indians proud, especially because the country is using the domestically produced vaccine in a big way, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (Ficci) said, quoting him. Ficci is one of the partners in the India Pavilion.

The chairman of India’s largest bank said the country has lived through one of the most challenging times and has come out of it in a very successful manner that gives the confidence that going forward, the journey should be rather easy and there will be huge opportunity for growth in the country.

In its latest edition of Economy Watch, EY India chief policy adviser DK Srivastava said: “As per the October 2021 issue of IMF’s World Economic Outlook, the Indian economy is poised to become the global growth leader FY22 onwards. Not only does it overtake China among major economies in FY22 but it is projected to retain this position for the next five years.”

High-frequency indicators confirm that economic recovery is gathering momentum, he said. India’s Goods and Services Tax (GST) collections, a weathervane of business activities, soared to ₹1.3 lakh crore in the month of October, the second highest ever. Latest data also shows the Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) for manufacturing in the month of October at 55.9, the highest since February.

Speaking about the growth prospects, Khara said he is sure that the confidence in the Indian economy would go a long way in terms of meeting the common man’s aspirations.

While visiting the India Pavilion at EXPO2020 Dubai, the SBI chairman said the pavilion is presenting the real India, which is full of opportunities, to the whole world in an impressive manner.

He said that the pandemic had a devastating impact on businesses, but the Indian economy is witnessing rapid recovery. “The credit growth in the economy was quite muted for almost two years. I am sure now with this confidence, the capacity utilisation will improve, and with the capacity utilisation improving, there will be a revival of investment demand for the corporate sector,” he said.