India must accelerate its next generation of economic reforms to sustain long-term growth amid a highly uncertain global environment, Sanjiv Bajaj, Chairman of Bajaj Finserv, told CNBC-TV18 on Wednesday, even as he said he was not worried about the rupee’s recent slide past 90 against the dollar.
Rupee weakness not a worry if movement is steady, says Bajaj
On the rupee touching 90 per dollar, Bajaj said the currency’s weakness was acceptable as long as the depreciation remained steady.
“A weaker rupee is fine as long as the slide is stable. RBI’s job isn’t to peg the currency, but to reduce volatility, that’s the right approach,” he said.
The Indian rupee slid past 90 per US dollar to a record low on Wednesday, declining for the sixth consecutive session as traders bet subdued trade and portfolio flows will keep Asia’s worst performer under pressure without central bank intervention.
Bajaj said India’s ability to grow at 7.5-8% despite global volatility was “remarkable”, but stressed that policy planning must shift from short-term fixes to a 5–10 year horizon.
With 800 million working-age youth and a large domestic market, he said India has the fundamentals to drive strong growth “for the next 10–20 years”, provided reforms continue and “the seeds for the next generation of growth” are sown now.
He noted that consumption trends remain steady, adding that the impact of recent GST rate cuts will become clearer over the next few quarters.
Right time for next-gen reforms: Bajaj
Sanjiv Bajaj urged the government to fast-track pending reforms in labour laws, land, water management and city-level ease of doing business, calling them critical for boosting productivity. “This is the right time for the next generation of reforms,” he said.
Bajaj said India has already benefited from decriminalisation of business regulations, and further dismantling the “remnants of the licence raj” would help accelerate investment.
He also highlighted the growing systemic importance of non-bank lenders. NBFCs today provide over a third of India’s credit hence scrutiny is justified, he said, adding that pressure in small-ticket unsecured loans has eased. “This is the right time for NBFCs to support the next leg of growth.”
Sanjiv Bajaj also weighed in on geopolitics, saying business outcomes from Russian President Vladimir Putin’s visit to India would depend on governmental priorities. On the delayed India-US trade deal, he noted that Washington remained the world’s “most innovative market”, but its stance also created opportunities for New Delhi to build new regional partnerships.
First Published: Dec 3, 2025 6:00 PM IST
