Industry Leaders Back PM Modi's Call for Prudence Amid Oil Crisis

Speaking on the sidelines of the CII Annual Business Summit 2026 in New Delhi, CEOs and founders across sectors said short-term challenges are manageable if the industry and citizens contribute their bit.

Kris Gopalakrishnan, Co-Founder of Infosys, said the government has done a "reasonably good job" in shielding India from global shocks. "Every policy that the government comes up with, there is typically a consultative process with the industry," he said, noting that India has kept inflation under check and remained one of the fastest-growing large economies.

He added that while the government has buffered the impact so far, "it definitely has an impact in terms of the energy cost, in terms of logistics cost, the time taken."

On the Prime Minister's suggestion of work-from-home and resource conservation, Gopalakrishnan said a "partial way" could work. "Probably we should be... at work from home, et cetera, in a partial way, fully, maybe one day or something like that, not all the people together, because we have all gone back to offices. Now, going back completely also is not warranted, I think."

He stressed that "everyone has to do their bit, industry, individuals, whatever we can do, because government alone cannot do something like this," drawing a parallel to the collective response during COVID-19.

Deepak Shetty, CEO and Managing Director of JCB India Ltd, said the Prime Minister's message is "always a very forward-looking... message that he has given. And it is not only for these tough times but also in the future."

He pointed to technology adoption as a way to contribute to the national cause without compromising growth. "We can't control what is happening geopolitically, but what we can control is how we adopt new technologies... to ensure that we don't spend, we don't waste, but we contribute to the national cause."

Shetty also highlighted India's resilience despite global volatility. "One very positive thing is that despite all the challenges, the investment and focus on CAPEX, infrastructure-related CAPEX continues from the government side."

He noted that exports from JCB India grew by nearly 32% last year, reflecting opportunities in both domestic and overseas markets. "Short term, there will be challenges, but we all play for the long term," he said, adding that India will "continue to grow between 6, 7, 8 per cent."

He urged industry to leverage India's scale as the "third largest market in the world for our equipment" and collaborate to "take advantage of the size of our economy and grow further."

George Young, Vice President of Rockwell Automation, US, said India's growth story is being powered by government investment in global capability centres and global value chains, alongside emerging technological excellence in AI and machine learning.

"We think those will continue to propel India, and we really think a lot of the growth will come from the micro and small manufacturing enterprises as they mature and go into... the middle of the economy," he said.

Young observed that Indian firms are now setting global benchmarks. "It used to be that India would look externally for inspiration and innovation. Now I was encouraging India to look internally for inspiration and innovation," he said, urging global CEOs to learn from "Indians, Indian companies' excellence and the culture of jugad to drive innovation."

He identified automotive, semiconductors and electronics as sectors already making progress, while pharma, chemicals, metals and sustainable mining are areas where "you're going to see real excellence emerging in the future."

- ANI