“God exists upstairs and he or she is an Indian”, said Kotak Mahindra AMC Managing Director Nilesh Shah while underscoring India’s favourable economic situation due to cheaper oil prices and strong GDP despite geopolitical tensions.
Nilesh Shah cited double-digit oil prices in India as proof that “god exists upstairs and is an Indian” despite the Israel-Hamas war, Red Sea disruption, and other global issues. He also noted US Fed signals about rate decreases and robust GDP growth rates.
Three months ago US Fed said that rates will stay higher for longer, but God said ‘Tathastu’, and now the Fed chairman is saying that they will start cutting rates.
Nilesh Shah at the India Exchange Summit in Mumbai
Shah highlighted the unusual pattern of oil prices in India, which continued to remain in double digits, to bolster his belief that India is endowed with ‘divine power’. The oil price trend in India defied expectations of reaching “triple digits” owing to the “Israel-Hamas war, oil production cuts by Saudi Arabia and Russia, Russia-Ukraine war” and remained in “double digits,” according to Shah.
While expressing his optimism about the Indian economy, Nilesh Shah previously stated that India will remain the world’s fastest-growing major economy as a result of “talent staying in India.”
We will remain the fastest-growing major economy in the world. This growth is the function of talent staying back in India, unlike the pre-90s when they migrated for better opportunities. We have built infrastructure at an incredible speed, almost doubling it in the last 10 years. The trinity of talent, capital and infrastructure is creating sustainable growth.
Nilesh Sha
India currently relies significantly on crude oil imports, which account for roughly 85% of its energy needs. Changes in global crude oil prices have an impact on its inflation, current account deficit, import bill, currency depreciation, fiscal deficit, and other indicators.
On April 3, the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies (OPEC+) announced that its supply policy would remain unchanged until mid-2024. The decision caused an increase in international crude oil prices to their highest level in five months.
