No.PR-28
April 25, 2020
New Delhi
The crisis is at the doorstep, we have to plan a preventive move for a growing future, Mr. Raamdeo Agarwal, Co-Founder and Chair, Motilal Oswal, Financial Services
With the implementation of nationwide lockdown due to the massive spread of COVID-19 in India, the industry is facing issues and challenges with investments in the Indian stock markets. To overcome the challenges and understand the way forward, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industries, organized an interactive webinar on ‘Investing successfully in these turbulent times’ with Mr. Raamdeo Agarwal, Co-Founder and Chair, Motilal Oswal, Financial Services, and Mr. Sunil Singhania, Founder, Abakkus Asset Manager, LLP on 24th April 2020. The session witnessed a participation of more than 200 industrialists, brokers, commodity and capital experts, and financial professionals and many senior’ members of PHD Chamber all over India.
Mr. Sunil Singhania, Founder, Abakkus Asset Manager, LLP, appreciated the efforts of PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry to organize such an interactive webinar on such an indispensable topic in these crucial times and said that COVID-19 has brought in a phase that many of us has witnessed for probably the first time in our lives.
The world is adopting two models to control this pandemic, one is complete lockdown which India has adopted to some extent and the other is the world immunity concept which has been adopted by countries like Sweden which is worked sccessfully for them.
We need to understand that this is flu and will have an impact and is highly contagious. We need to take utmost precautions, act as responsible citizens and our life and not spread false information which causes fear and panic. We are in the situation of ICU which means it is a critical time and we need a massive stimulus package which can help to kickstart and boost the economy, said Mr. Sunil Singhania.
Deliberating the participants on the run-through of the Global Markets, Mr. Sunil Singhania discussed that while the global market witnessed a drop till the past few months, but since the last month, the market has gained stability. Things are still uncertain at this hour, but the government needs to make sure that the economic activities start soon and that can revive the market and economy, said Mr Singhania.
In my opinion, I don’t see a V-Shape revival of the economy. We will have a U-shape recovery, which means that we would take a much longer time to revive ourselves, said Mr. Sunil Singhania.
While we are still a struggling stage, we need to understand that India has the caliber to attract outside foreign investments, which will aid India to become the home destination for foreign investments, said Mr. Sunil Singhania.
Mr. Raamdeo Agarwal, Co-Founder, and Chair, Motilal Oswal, Financial Services, thanked PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry for giving this opportunity to deliberate on such an important topic in these crucial times. This is the time that everyone needs to come together and cooperate and find out a solution to revive and keep their businesses moving.
Deliberating the participants on the overview outline about the impact of COVID-19 on business and economy while touching upon the impact it has on the market, Mr. Raamdeo Agarwal said that the crisis is at the doorstep, we have to plan a preventive for a growing future.
In my opinion, the world has to learn to live with COVID – 19 around and understand that till the time a vaccine or antinode is not found, social distancing is the only remedy. Authorities will have to become practical in terms of the opening up of the economy and people need to care is managing the systems and processes, said Mr. Raamdeo Agarwal.
The impact of this will be a few percentages on the GDP, which will be quite daunting and difficult to estimate at this juncture. For the big companies, they need to manage their business and access the market crisis with a thought through practical approach so that it doesn’t give them significant losses, said Mr. Raamdeo Agarwal.
Dr. D K Aggarwal President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry appreciated the government for their proactive active measures that they have taken to combat the spread of COVID-19 and also apprised them that the members of PHD Chamber have generously made a contribution of Rs 525 Crores to the PM CARES Fund apart from distributing lakhs of food packets, sanitizers, masks, and other personal protective equipment and we will continue to give back to the society and are in full support in all endeavors of the government.
Dr. D K Aggarwal mentioned that COVID-19 has caused turbulence in the world and the global economy. The lockdown is not the solution to this problem, it’s just a way to mitigate the spread of this virus in our country. The solution will be in inventing some medicine or vaccines.
While experts say that by September we will be out of this problem but we are not certain about it. The impact of COVID-19 on the world and business will depend on the extent of the spread it will have on the world, said Dr Aggarwal.
According to many experts, India will be able to grow itself in the financial year 2020-2021 at a rate of 1.8% but with this kind of a growth rate, 25% of the MSME sector will face a threat to their survival, which will lead to an increase in the rate of the unemployment rate, pay cuts, and many businesses will go out of the system. The most important thing at this hour is a stimulus relief package to be provided by the government to help industries recover from this crisis. Sectors like tourism, automobiles, real estate, aviation, and many others will be worst affected and will take a long time to recover, said Dr. D K Aggarwal.
Dr. D K Aggarwal highlighted that post COVID-19 lockdown, this will become the new normal. The business model will witness a lot of change and development. We need to analyze which business model will be profitable and relevant depending upon our industry and financial capital.
While every problem has a green side, one of the biggest developments which have happened to the country is the crude prices that have come down drastically and this will benefit India substantially, said Dr Aggarwal.
Shri Pradeep Multani, Vice President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry delivered a vote of thanks to all the speakers and participants in the webinar.
Mr. B K Sabharwal, Chair Capital Market, and Commodity Market Committee PHD Chamber gave a warm welcome Mr. Raamdeo Agarwal, Co-Founder, and Chair, Motilal Oswal, Financial Services, and Mr. Sunil Singhania, Founder, Abakkus Asset Manager, LLP and shared the issues and challenges faced by the industry while also suggesting relief measures and steps to ensure smooth working of the industry in the country. He also moderated the session.
The webinar was also having a Commodity Broker Association as its knowledge partner. The webinar was attended by many senior PHD members and industry stalwarts.
Ends
Media Division
PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry