Currently, We Are Focusing On Mutual Fund Distribution

Heading Asia's oldest stock exchange and the fastest exchange in the world is no mean feat. To lead such a large institution which is also prone to technology disruption one needs not only to be dynamic and foresighted but also innovative and action-oriented. Ashish Chauhan, Managing Director and CEO of BSE, is one such leader who imbibes all these rare qualities needed to be successful at executing the complex and unconventional business strategies to ensure BSE is on the growth-track and ahead of the curve most of the times. With his infectious smile, he explains while talking to DSIJ, how and why the Indian economy is on the right track while spelling out the road ahead for India's leading exchange group

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It looks like we imported fears from the coronavirus crisis given by how the market is reacting recently. What is your outlook on the economy especially now that the market is correcting from this issue?

There are several tailwinds and there are several headwinds. So the tailwinds which are supporting the companies and profits are the reduction in the corporate tax which is become applicable this year onwards. So clearly, even if the company's profit remains the same on a gross basis, the net profit goes much higher. So that is going to happen going forward. You will see the March results capturing this. Second, the rains have been very good this year. I have been told, the Rabi crop this year would pretty much be the highest. Even the winter crop is going to be very good. So effectively there is going to be a lot of money in the hands of the rural population which will finally be reflecting in the consumption.

All the issues which in a way bogged down the economy because of the fast implementation of IBC or direct benefit transfer or GST have now settled down and everyone has got used to it. Overall, the Indian economy is now much more equipped to handle larger loads and should do much better going forward. In terms of the headwinds, these are foreign driven because our downturn last year got over. Now, in the last quarter, we are seeing good results by mostly all companies and you will see that going forward. On the headwind side, the coronavirus issue has affected the supply chains, so it is not been felt in January but by February onwards you will see that the prices of some of the electronic goods and other things which India and the rest of the world imports from China will probably go up because of the shortages. I have heard that many of the supply chains across the world are broken and so that is a clear issue.