Annual reports and annual general meetings of listed Indian companies usually give an overall picture of the year gone by and a clue or two to what lies ahead. These customary annual exercise, in current uncertain times, help gauge the mood of India Inc and their confidence level. Top industrialists, while acknowledging the challenges, time and again have expressed confidence in India’s growth story. India’s economic prospects for FY 2026-27 carry both opportunities and risks. Growth is projected at 6.6 per cent by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), marginally revised down due to the effects of the ongoing conflicts. India, nonetheless, remains among the fastest-growing major economies globally. Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman of the Aditya Birla Group, wrote in the annual report of Grasim Industries, “the pace of the renewable energy transition, the credibility of fiscal policy and the implementation of newly concluded trade agreements will be factors that determine the trajectory of growth in the coming years.” R Seshasayee, Chairman, Asian Paints, at the company’s 80th annual general meeting pointed that it may take a while for input costs to return to pre-conflict levels, but he highlighted that the housing, infrastructure and consumption story of India offered immense opportunities.
Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra and Mahindra, suggested that the next global order may well be built by those who can become connectors in a fragmented world, which opens up an opportunity for India to be a connector economy that works across divides. He listed out factors like democracy, political stability and geographical position as a buffer against China among factors to fit the definition of a prefect ‘connector economy’. Mahindra also pointed out this is the ideal time for India to move from being ‘non-aligned’ to being a ‘multi-aligned’ force and a trusted partner. Borrowing an analogy from Formula E racing, he said M&M will go into Attack Mode, “in ideal conditions overtaking is difficult, because everyone is at speed. It is when conditions are rainy or hazy that calculated acceleration can propel you to victory.”