Even large corporations strengthen greenfield and brownfield investment plans, says Amitabh Choudhary, CEO, axis Bank, believes that the actual capital expenditure will resume in the next 9-12 months and this will indicate a revival Credit Uthan Choudhary, who was re-appointed as the bank’s MD for the next three years, tells Saloni Shukla that he had turned the bank over to a better quality franchise and that the bank would soon take over. NIM And ROAS and . Reported by the likes of HDFC Bank. Edited excerpt:

What is your view on Indian economy? Does it seem to be recovering?

The festive season has been better than expected. Optimism is returning, there has been a lot of talk about the incremental capex that will happen soon. Some of them have announced investment plans, but the actual capital expenditure will start coming only in the next 9-12 months, when credit offtake starts. On the government side, earlier only certain sectors like defense and infrastructure were being spent, but now I am told that other departments are being pushed to spend as well. GST and tax collection is looking good, so the government has some extra money to spend.

What are the signs of concern for you?

Yes, there are signs of concern. Although the third wave of Covid after the festive season has not arrived as expected, some concerns remain on that front. On the upside, 57% of the population has received at least the first dose of vaccination. But we see a fourth wave in Europe, so you can’t ignore that fact. We are hearing about shutdown for illiterate people.

Besides there are supply chain issues, it is also affecting India especially the car industry. My impression is that this could go on for the next 12 months. Commodity prices remain high. Geopolitical issues are worrying, especially what is happening between the Western world and China.

What kind of capacity utilization are you seeing and in which areas will capital spending accelerate?

Talks on capital expenditure are taking place with the infrastructure sectors and their backers. India’s exports have grown by 55%, so some industries that depend on exports are also incurring a lot of capital expenditure. Generally, as soon as the capacity utilization starts reaching 70-75%, they need to start planning for capex as it does not come overnight. My view is that once the supply chain issues in the auto industry are sorted out, demand will pick up as well. On the service side, the big players have raised a lot of capital; So when things open up they can get properties at cheaper rates.