PM Modi should work like CM Modi

Mumbai: Industry doyen AM Naik went public with concerns over the economy, saying we should feel 'lucky' even if GDP clips at 6.5 percent, and recommended faster project clearances like the one in Gujarat when Prime Minister Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister, as a solution.

The Padma Vibhushan awardee also said the 'situation is challenging' on data credibility, saying one has to use his or her own judgement while believing in the official numbers.

"Growth is going to be not more than 6.5 percent this year. My feeling is that though they (government) claim it is 7 per cent plus, if we can maintain 6.5 per cent, we will be lucky," Naik, the non-executive chairman of the engineering giant L&T told reporters on the sidelines of AGM Thursday.

The comments come at a time when economy slipped to a five-year low of 5.8 per cent in the March quarter, and questions are being raised on the methodology of assessing the very official growth numbers by a group of economists.

Naik said the lingering trade wars between US and China present us with a huge opportunity, if we are able to attract the units leaving China.

However, he rued that we have not been able to make any success on that front as those companies have already chosen Vietnam and Thailand.

"How many industries have come here? For the past two years, the US has been talking of moving American industry out of China, but we were busy in the elections. So, we did not do anything," he averred.

Naik, who is widely credited for the huge success of L&T as the executive head till two years ago, said it will be a great achievement if we can attract a fourth of the investments moving out of China.

Urging the government to speed up decision-making, he said "a lot of openness and reform is required" and one can't take "years to clear an investment proposal.