Budget deficit goal post should be increased: Vikram Kirloskar, CII

Vikram Kirloskar, President, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), talks about India's focus on the theme of World Economic Forum 2020 and budget expectations during a candid chat with Swati Khandelwal, Zee Business, on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos (#ZeeBusinessatDavos).  Mr Kirloskar is also the Chairman and MD of Kirloskar Systems Ltd and Vice Chairman of Toyota Kirloskar Motor. Excerpts:

Q: World Economic Forum 2020 theme, Stakeholders for a Cohesive and Sustainable World, is very important as it is visible to us in the form of global warming and climate change issues. Let us know about India's focus towards the cause and its commitment to it?

A: I think, Industry has to play a part in this. Our company is looking at the ways to reduce carbon at our end and has reached almost zero-mark in manufacturing as we use renewable energy a lot. Definitely, the industry can do it and it can be done with a lot of innovation. We must do it and there is no option and it should be done at the individual level. 

ज़ी बिज़नेस से एक्सक्लूसिव बातचीत में CII के प्रेसीडेंट विक्रम किर्लोस्कर ने कहा- पर्यावरण को बेहतर बनाने के लिए सभी को मिलकर काम करना होगा#ZeeBusinessatDavos #WorldEconomicForum2020 #Davos2020 @SwatiKJain @vikramkirloskar @FollowCII pic.twitter.com/iFdho25Bo3

— Zee Business (@ZeeBusiness) January 22, 2020

Q: Do you think that India's position at World Economic Forum - a platform where big deals, commitments and MoUs are signed - will be action-packed as it has been in the past?

A: Day one was for listening to President Donald Trump, which was quite fantastic. This is the first time when I heard him talking not on TV but in real. Interestingly, he speaks with a lot of confidence and power and it is quite amazing. When it comes to India than I think, we should learn from various people that I heard here and the things that their countries have done to improve their situation and do it better. Thus, we should get ideas. If you listen to Donald Trump's speech where he talks of many things that he did to improve the economy of his country. 

Q: Your expectations from the budget 2020?

A: Our major expectation was that it should increase the goal post of the budget (#BUDGET2020ZEE) deficit and then leverage that amount through IDBI type of bank but use it for productive assets. There should be a return otherwise it will be stuck in more situations. Besides that very hard to say as you can talk of issues like taxes and fewer regulations among others