After a 1.6 per cent decline in India’s power demand in August, Prashant Jain, joint managing director and chief executive officer (CEO), JSW Energy, said demand in September so far has been weak. In an interview with Amritha Pillay, Jain said he was hopeful the annual power demand growth would be at 4 to 5 per cent fuelled by rural electrification, urbanisation and low-cost housing. Edited excerpts:
What is your view on the slowdown seen in some industries?
The slowdown is for real and will not go away quickly. There are a number of issues. Lenders are averse to lending, auditors are averse to auditing, rating agencies are averse to rating and promoters are averse to taking credit. I don’t think this is a cyclical issue, it is more than that.
