He noted that while this may provide marginal support to volumes, weak rural demand – coupled with soft farm incomes – will weigh on the sector, making the upcoming monsoon and improvement in rural liquidity, along with commodity costs, currency trends and foreign investor inflows important factors.
Turning to the technology space, amid recent changes and optimism such as the partnership between Infosys and Anthropic, Subramaniam said the sector offers a case for new entrants, arguing that prolonged underperformance due to artificial intelligence concerns has already been priced in.
He said Indian IT companies are stepping up investment in AI, dividend yields have become more attractive and more clarity on strategies in the coming quarters could help improve sentiment, recommending a stalled buy with a preference for large-cap companies.
On India’s manufacturing pathway — spanning electronics manufacturing services, data centers and advanced industries — he said continued progress will depend on attracting foreign direct investment and fostering partnerships that enable technology transfer. Acknowledging that India has demonstrated strong capabilities in areas such as defence, he asserted that global companies will need to start operations locally, continue policy support and gradually move up the value chain to scale up production broadly.
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