As inflation cools off, RBI Guv says 'monetary policy on right track'

Mumbai, May 12 (IANS) With the latest official data indicating a cooling off in the headline inflation to 4.7 per cent in April, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said that it proves the monetary policy is on the right track, here on Friday.

Terming the official data as a very satisfying development, Das refused to comment if the release of the numbers would lead to change of the policy stance or the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) becoming less hawkish.

He preferred to say that all this would be clear on June 8 when the next policy review will come up.

Das was speaking at the launch of the book 'Made In India' by the G-20 Sherpa Amitabh Kant in Mumbai on Friday evening.

He said the RBI is optimistic and fairly confident over India's 6.5 per cent real GDP growth rate though other analysts have differing views.

The RBI chief pointed out that private investments are picking up and it is visible in sectors like enlisted steel, cement and petrochemicals, among others, and any entrepreneur can testify on the growth momentum of higher sales notched every month.

Das said that if India grows at 6.5 per cent, it would contribute 15 per cent to the world growth during the year, "which is no mean achievement".

Das also stressed the need to continue with reforms, keep accessing the best technology and hike the expenditure on research and development, both in the public and private sectors.

In his book, Kant discusses how the Indian economy has emerged as one of the largest in the world with a vibrant startup ecosystem.

The Indian economy has come a long way since the time economic performance, shacked by Socialist politics and the licence-permit-quota raj, was christened as the `Hindu rate of growth'.

Kant has attempted to understand the remarkably robust and resilient growth story of the Indian business and enterprise, in a multi-faceted survey of the country's business heritage and culture.

The book includes accounts of the development of Indian business and enterprise from the pre-Independence era to the present, 75 years post-Independence.

There are inspirational accounts of the top business families or groups like the Tatas, Birlas, Walchand Hirachand Doshi, Wadias, Kirloskars, Shapoorji Pallonji, and the new age entrepreneurs like Sunil Bharti Mittal and Rahul Bhatia.

Also present at the launch were Tata Sons Chairman N. Chandrasekaran, Kotak Mahindra Bank CEO Uday Kotak, Nykaa CEO Falguni Nayar.