The Reserve Bank of India will have to see that the financial system is supplied with enough cash to sustain the economy’s growth. The country’s investment climate remains full of optimism. I feel that if the economy is steered rightly, the market dynamics not disturbed and public – private partnership comes into full play, then there is no reason why our economy will not continue to grow at a high rate. But to make the high rate of growth sustainable, the country needs further reforms, particularly in the financial sector. I believe in inclusive growth, a growth that leads to improvement in public welfare. Now, I shall briefly touch upon how I look at the two major business segments of company, namely, cement and tyre. The Indian cement industry is an outstanding example of how the removal of controls has spurred growth in capacity and made the country self – reliant in critical item needed for development of infrastructure and construction. What pleases me is that the industry in course of capacity expansion is also achieving global benchmarks in energy use, environmental protection and quality of cement. I have no doubt that the industry will continue to grow strongly to be in position to meet all incremental future domestic demand. As cement use has strong correlation with GDP growth rate and construction activities, the industry should have a good future. There must not be any let up in efforts to control costs, specially as coal has become so expensive.

The future of the Indian tyre industry is bright. The high rate of GDP growth and growing affluence of the middle class, whose base is fast expanding, have created a vibrant automobile industry in the country. Commercial vehicles production should also continue to register high growth. As a result, the tyre industry will need fresh capacity to meet the rising demand from vehicle manufacturers and also of the replacement market.

Sri. Basant Kumar Birla, Chairman, Birla Tyres

Source: http://www.kesocorp.com/COMPANY/chairmansmessage.html