The rupee has slid in the last couple of weeks. But for five years before that, the rupee was quite steady. If you look at a five-year picture, the rupee is not doing badly. Current account deficit has gone up a little, but our foreign exchange reserves are very good. And now the government is taking steps to correct the current account deficit.

We, at Godrej, have always been for the opening up of the economy. Even before 1991, we had advocated openness. Even now we advocate open trade, no protection. Competition is the best.

One has to be competitive. Indian businesses, for various reasons, are sometimes not competitive. Earlier we had restrictions that did not allow private companies to expand. There used to be a license for everything. Now there are many other restrictions like in the movement of goods. GST is a good development: now there will be free movement. We used to have taxes when we moved goods from one state to the other. Even today our corporate taxes are the highest in the world, especially for large competitive. We (large companies) pay more corporate tax than the Chinese companies. And the government had announced that it would bring the corporate tax down to 25% but it has done that only for small companies, not the large ones. The ones that compete globally are the large companies. Then we have labour restrictions. So these are some of the reasons our competitiveness is affected.

We expect good growth both from our Indian businesses as well as from our international businesses. We are mainly in developing countries; they are growing much faster than developed countries. At the same time, we keep looking for new opportunities for acquisitions, we keep looking at new geographical entries, we keep looking at growth all the time.

We have recently become carbon-neutral. It has also saved us costs. The cost of alternate energy is cheaper than it used to be and in the long run, it will be much cheaper than carbon-emitting energy like coal or oil. We have a mangrove forest. Then we use a lot of solar energy at our plants. We have also gone for water recycling. We also recycle waste into energy. We have a large operation in palm oil manufacturing. We are the largest in oil palm cultivation in India. In our factories, the palm waste, which you get after the palm fruits are crushed for oil, is recycled to produce energy. In Godrej Properties, all our buildings are certified green buildings. We have also created a CII Green Business Centre — and now India has the largest number of green buildings outside the US. Our headquarters, Godrej One, is platinum-certified. In Hyderabad, we converted plastic into oil.

No, our Q3 has been very good actually for all our businesses it has been a very good quarter, particularly for Godrej Consumer Products because despite the demonetization I think we have performed very well in the category. We had an 8% sales growth in Godrej Consumer Products during the quarter and a 14% EBITDA growth. Godrej Properties posted excellent results. Godrej Agrovet did very well on the back of a good monsoon in the two new acquisitions so overall all our businesses have performed well and especially since it was at the demonetization quarter we are very satisfied with the performance of our businesses and in the present quarter and in the quarters to come we expect to do even better.

The general real estate market is not doing too well, however, Godrej Properties has done very well, our new projects have done particularly well. We have had very good bookings for all the new projects we have launched and we have had very good progress in our project called the Trees at Vikhroli which is our main headquarters area in Mumbai and this better rate of construction has helped us book the profits earlier than we otherwise would have and we hope to continue in that direction and we hope to continue to launch new projects and I think we are picking and selecting our projects so they are welcome by the general public.

In India, our experience has been that lower rates of taxes have led to a higher collection of taxes and higher rates of growth. So, we need to have a tax system that is optimal. Corporate tax rates in the country are some of the highest in the world. However, the government brought down the rate in the budget but only for small companies. Many of the government policies are free enterprise and growth-oriented, adding that it is trying to improve ease of doing business. But states are being very competitive in things like ease of doing business, helping companies get an allocation of land. I think the competitive spirit among the states is definitely helping. I am a great believer of the free trade, and I think it promotes global growth. However, if there are unfair practices then we need to protect ourselves.

I would say Godrej Consumer Products because FMCG was more impacted due to dealer down stocking but other businesses were less affected. Not only can it recover, but it will recover. We expect FMCG will be much better in Q2 and even better in the second-half of the financial year. The wholesale channel may not have fully recovered, but Q2 will be much better than Q1. This will be on the back of GST recovery. Once GST is smooth, it will have a huge impact as GDP will go up, business will go up and it has already started from July onwards. The wholesale channel will have to change its ways of dealing with cash. I do not think there will be a problem.

Generally, black money has come down in the country after demonetization, and after GST it will come down further. The days of black money are going away.

Acquisition of start-ups like Ek Stop has helped Nature’s Basket. Like anything new, it all depends on how things turn out even in new ventures like retail. But currently, the concentration is on expanding stores than getting profitable.

Not all wholesalers are back to normal but that does not mean that we will reduce our exposure to them. The wholesale channel does not account for a large part of our sales as a lot of it is done through our own distributors and we do our own retail. I do not want to go much into more retail formats but concentrate on our branded business.

India will do well and GDP rate will accelerate. Lot of reforms coming in and we have to make sure we leverage it properly as a Group. I am optimistic about the future of the country and the Group. As a Group, we are already in an adequate number of lines of business. Expanding the number of lines of business is not going to be our objective but expanding respective businesses. The Group has revenues between $4 billion and $5 billion and every year the growth rates varies depending on how the economy grows.

It is very good. It is a major economic reform. I think it is the most important economic reform of India since the opening of the economy in 1991. It has been extremely successful. GDP growth has improved. The GST Council had met many times to take quick decisions on issues in their horizon and they had resolved many. This has led to better growth now. Many of the rates are lower than they were before GST. They have been passed on to consumers. For example, Godrej soaps have become cheaper by 9%. Consumers are benefiting from lower rates. And, tax collections have gone up.

I don’t agree with that at all. For such a major reform, it was implemented very well. The GST Council had sat very often, take decisions. People who don’t like change will always complain. And in this case, it has not been good for people who used to evade taxes. With GST, it is very difficult to evade taxes. So those who were evading taxes are the main ones complaining and making excuses. They were the same ones who delayed GST by 10 years.

The economy is on a very good footing. We must aim to continue to be the fastest-growing economy in the world. In my estimate, by 2050 India will become the largest economy in the world overtaking first the U.S. and then China... because of our demography and because of our democracy. t is very good. We have had 7.7% growth in January-March. It has been growing every quarter and in 2018-19, I expect much better growth than 2017-18.

Many changes have been made. Many good things have happened. Black money has reduced. Corruption at high levels has reduced. The economy is on a very good path. The whole world recognizes it. All people including foreign leaders are coming to India. FDI in India is the highest in any country in the world. We are the fastest-growing economy in the world.

There is all-round growth. GST (goods and services tax) has had a good impact on the growth as it is pushing the GDP (gross domestic product) growth. Secondly, GST rates on several consumer products were reduced and we have directly passed on the benefits to the consumers, which has helped in increasing the consumption. There is a growth in demand in the rural areas and this growth is backed by an increase in income of people. In fact, the government is also working hard for rural people. India is a land with maximum possibilities of growth in consumption, which can come through penetration. Consumption will increase with an increase in income.

I don't think that it can be run through one or two rates and there is a need of at least three rate structures. GST has ended complications and is having a positive impact on the economy of the country.

It is visible, but it is a difficult task to provide an estimate. For the purpose, you can have a look at the GDP growth of the January-March quarter, which stood at 7.5% and was higher than the previous quarters. I feel this growth is here to stay and will continue to grow in every quarter.

Yes, I feel that you will be able to see an uptick and the growth will be supported by two things; they are the scope of growth in Agrovet's business and its R&D (research and development), which is helping us in developing products that can help the farmers in increasing their productivity.

Yes, it can be done. For the purpose, the farmers will also have to concentrate on animal husbandry such as milk and eggs, among others, as this is a sector that will provide an income year on year while agriculture is a business that can witness ups and downs.

Growth is going well and I am very happy when it comes to the future of India. Have a look at the purchasing power parity where we are in the third position in the world and just behind China and the US. I feel we are going to be the number one country in terms of PPP by 2050 as we are a young country and have less pressure of handing retired person.

We have been in business now for 120 years and I joined the group in 1963 when I finished my education in the US and we have been growing quite consistently since then. Of course, the early years, generally, business in India was difficult because there was controlled economy, expansion was difficult because government wanted you to take permission for almost everything you did, etc. But since 1991, 0over the last 25 years, things have been considerably better. Indian economy has grown much better and our growth has been also much faster since 1991 than it was until 1991.

When we first decided on the 10 by 10 goal, we did well over 3-4 years. Then the Indian economy as you know, growth has slowed down a little bit in the last 2-3 years, primarily because we had two bad monsoons in a row and otherwise also, global growth has slowed down. So, we are off track over the last 2-3 years. But GST coming in, the Indian economy will do exceedingly well, so we will be back on track after that.

It could be. As I said, whether we grow 10 by 10 or eight times in 10 years is not so critical. This was just a goal we can focus on and it also would enable us to decide how much we want it to grow inorganically by acquisitions and we have grown quite a lot by acquisitions also. There have been some years where our growth rate has been over 30 percent.

No, we do not have an exact number. The 10 by 10 is a goal we want to set ourselves. We do not want to do it in any manner, whatsoever. It has to be done in a strategic manner. And of course, part of it has to be achieved by acquisitions. We do not think organically we can grow at 26 percent. So, acquisitions also must be strategic, must be accretive and it is better not to achieve the goal than to do in a non-strategic manner.

No, ours is not a very capital intensive business, so we do not plan in terms of how much capital we are going to invest or how much are we going to set aside for acquisitions. As needed, we raise it. But, acquisitions of course tend to be quite expensive and we have recently grown also by acquisitions in Godrej Agrovet. We met two substantial acquisitions recently which have both done very well.

Crude prices were high in the recent past but have fallen. Secondly, the Opec (Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries) nations in their recent meeting have decided to increase the production so that prices are under control.

Digital growth is quite good in India. It is catching on. Demonetisation has been almost fully restored in terms of remonetization as you put it and growth will be good going forward. One of the big factors for growth in India will be goods and services tax (GST) being implemented.

We don't specialize in ayurvedic products, so it is unlikely that we will pay a lot of attention to ayurvedic products. We will concentrate on the categories we are very strong in. We are very strong in household insecticides, we are very strong in hair colours, soaps is a good business for us. Globally we are in other categories also especially hair care in Africa. We are the largest company in the world for hair care for women of African origin. We have a strong business in Africa and a strong business in the US.

Acquisitions would be a big part of GCPLs growth. It has been already. Now companies we have acquired have started growing organically also. So, we expect that to be a strong growth factor for GCPL in the future. Yes, a little bit, especially since currencies, have been fluctuating a lot, particularly in Africa. So, it is a matter of concern but we are taking it in our stride and we have done very well despite these challenges

Our acquisition strategy is very clear, 3x3. Three continents, Asia, Africa and South America and in three categories where we have strong positions, personal wash, household care and hair care. Clearly, India is part of it. Acquisitions in India may be more difficult than outside because the opportunities are less.

There is good growth in rural demand, so we are increasing our rural penetration. The question is not where our products are found, but do we go through the wholesale channel or can we directly distribute? So the more direct distribution we do it is more efficient but it comes at a cost. Rural demand is growing faster than urban demand and we are increasing our coverage in rural areas.

Things will improve if we have a growth-oriented government, even this current government has started growth-oriented measures now, but it is a little late. The sentiment is still weak. So, if there is a growth-oriented government the economy will definitely pick up, if not it will continue to flounder.

There is a difficulty in the economy and two things are responsible for it. The first is related to our own country. But the global economy is also facing major pressure mainly due to the US-China trade dispute. Similarly, European economy is also feeling the heat of Brexit. We will not be able to see any improvement in the Indian economy if there is no improvement in these two global events. Our government should provide a stimulus package. The budgetary decision to increase taxes was a very wrong, in fact, one of the decisions in which they have increased taxes on higher-income payers had an impact on the foreign investment and the government did not even know that it affected there. However, they have decided to withdraw it, but it had a negative impact. I feel, taxes should be reviewed. Former finance minister Arun Jaitley had announced the maximum corporate tax of 25% and implemented it on 98-99% corporates, but 98-99% corporate income was left out from its purview. It should be implemented at the earliest. The government should implement the recommendations of the commission which was constituted to look into income tax and provide recommendations.

It will not worsen more than these levels, but it should be improved at the earliest or else the Indian economy will have to face major difficulties. The government should take immediate steps. The government has a false notion that high taxes will help them in increasing their revenues, however, it doesn’t imply anywhere. High taxes hurt the economy as it reduces tax collection.

First of all, permissions should be granted at the earliest as taking permission is a painstaking task in India at present. Secondly, it should have a look at taxation. I don’t t think that reviewing it or bringing it down will decrease the revenues, but it may increase it.

No, we are running our investments. We are investing a lot especially in our real estate business and have taken over several projects, which were not completed by other builders. We are investing and will continue with it.

Demand has been hit, especially in rural areas, which reported good growth earlier. It has come down. Demand has decreased in a true sense. However, FMCG is not based on government policy it has decreased just because the economy is not in good shape.

For FMCG products, the slowdown has been more pronounced in the rural areas, though rural growth was ahead earlier. The rural economy has been impacted by the slowdown in production and an irregular monsoon. Also, the discretionary spend of the rural population has not grown as per expectations. We expect to fare better in FY21, though a lot would depend on government policy going forward.

There may be no tax on agriculture, but animal husbandry is taxed fully, bringing under the net income from poultry, dairy, fisheries, etc. That affects rural growth.

While it was affected, it has managed to recover from the lows. We expect the business to grow provided the government accepts our suggestion of treating animal husbandry on a par with agriculture.

We have done better in the October-December quarter. Our international businesses have been performing as the economies there have done well, especially Indonesia, which is a large market for us. The hair care business is rated number one in Africa; we are also introducing new products in the haircare and repellant segments, besides those to prevent dengue and malaria.

Our real estate business has done very well. Over the last two years we have had record sales. We will continue to grow both businesses though our commercial segment is doing better.

It is mainly reputation. People trust us , ensuring that our projects are lapped up by the market. There is a lot of focus on online retailing now. Even Godrej Retail is looking at greater online presence.

We do not go through the strategies of other companies, being more of an in-shoppe player. However, we do have plans to increase our online presence. It will be a continuous exercise.

I believe India has a great future. On purchasing power parity, it will be the largest economy in the world by 2050. At present, we are ranked third after China and the US; so we will overtake both. India will also overtake China on population. As far as the Godrej Group is concerned, we will keep growing faster than the economy.