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00:00currency, in that the best situation is of Rupees. So how do you look at other currencies?
00:11See, other currencies entirely depend on their economy. If they are also import-intensive
00:20economies, like India, 20% of our expenditure is in oil import. So if there are other economies
00:29that import a lot, then their currencies will always be under dollar pressure because dollar
00:35is still the most traded currency in the world. But if there are economies whose trade balance
00:44is positive, they will not be affected so much. So again, it depends on how dependent
00:51their economies are on dollar trade, how much FDI they are getting, which again comes
00:58in dollars. So if their economy is healthy, then their currency will always be strong.
01:05And of course, their local economy should be strong. In India, everything is positive.
01:11FDI is fine, it will go up and down a little bit, but our own economy is very strong.
01:17Manufacturing is also picking up a lot, the schemes of the government in the last 3-4 years.
01:23So I don't see any worry with regard to Rupees or the stock market.
01:29So would Rupees be stronger than dollars?
01:32See, it is not necessary that it should be strong. Rupees can be strong, there are a lot
01:39of predictions, people say that Rupees will reach 50 Rupees or 60 Rupees, but there is
01:46no basis for that. It is all relative strength. When it was 60 Rupees, India was performing
01:53very well 10-15 years ago. Today when it is 80 Rupees, it is still performing. So we should
02:01not focus too much on that, where Rupees has reached. There is a good report for the news,
02:08but it does not make much difference for business.
02:13So what is your message to the finance minister for this budget?
02:20This budget is significant because for Modi 3.0, this will be the first full year budget.
02:28So there are people's expectations. SHM has memberships, SMEs also. So large companies'
02:40expectations are largely taken care of. So we have this year focused more on the expectations
02:48of the smaller companies. We have honourable finance ministers during this year. We have
03:03a concept of MSME unit, which is basically providing MSME clinical training, vocational
03:11training, housing and schooling, plus availability of labour in those areas and other common
03:28logistics and supply chain facilities. So that has been one pitch. Number two for MSMEs,
03:34I have suggested to honourable finance minister that if we can look at a reduced rate of tax
03:41say at 15%, in a way that the tax saving done by these companies are used towards sustainability
03:48initiatives. Because usually MSMEs are not able to spare enough funds to focus on sustainability
03:55and that will give them some leeway to focus on all the ESG aspects of their business.
04:03How is the stock market? Stock market depends on two things. One is performance of the companies
04:11and second is lot of sentiment. So performance of Indian companies I think is on track. Yes,
04:20in quarter two there was a bit of a slowdown, which is what led to the sentiment part. But
04:26if you see financially by the end of this year the companies would have only grown vis-à-vis
04:32the previous two, three years. Growth rate will obviously go down because after COVID
04:37there was a sudden spike, so you cannot expect that to continue. But it is pure sentiment
04:44and I do not see any concern. A few thousand up and down in the Sensex really does not
04:50reflect on sudden weakening or strengthening of the economy.
04:54Sensex rupee is on record level against the dollar. How do you see that?