Deficient rains didn't hit rural demand hard, says Nadir Godrej

After some parts of the country received deficient rainfall, Nadir Godrej, chairman of Godrej Industries on Tuesday said deficient rains will not hurt rural demand hard.

He said, "We expect very good rabi crops because in the last few years the monsoon has extended quite late and that's very good for the rabi crops but it's very variable so the Kharif crops have seen for the last two or three years some degree of damage."

Godrej said July inflation was lower than June inflation and commodity prices which shot up after the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine have come down considerably.

"Indian inflation is largely influenced by commodity prices. However, there is not much wage push inflation in the US and Britain. So when the commodity prices rose, wages were also rising in those countries. So by March-April, everyone is expecting inflation numbers in India to be quite reasonable. So we don't have to worry much on that front," he said.

Further, Godrej said, "In Godrej Industries, our major business is the chemicals business and it has been an excellent time for the Indian chemical industry, especially the specialty chemical industry."

"In Godrej Consumer Products, there was a little bit of an effect of inflation but things are picking up now even for that business. Even for Godrej Properties, things are picking up. For the chemicals business, the last year was the best ever and this year is even better than last year," he added.