New Delhi: India will surpass China as the world's fastest growing economy in the next 2-3 years, said top industrialist Mukesh Ambani, who feels that the slump in global oil prices is a "gift" for the country's growth prospects.
The world's richest energy billionaire said investor confidence in the Indian economy has come back and it will be "the fastest growing economy in the world in 2017-18".
Ambani, whose company Reliance Industries owns the world's largest refinery complex, said the world oil markets are over-supplied and crude price of USD 60-70 price is a good price for a nation that is 80 per cent dependent on imports.
"It's really the US and India that for a variety of reasons have fixed both their internal and external cycles. The Chinese are slowing down and will slow down further.
"I clearly see, with both inflows and internal stability, we will gradually increase our growth rate and I have no doubt in my mind that we will be the fastest growing economy in the world in the next 2-3 years. We will exceed China's growth rate," he said at an event organised by Brown University here last evening.
He said both "internal and external confidence" has come back to India.
"(Year) 2014 has been a lucky year for India. If we think about 2004-2014, oil prices went from USD 20 to USD 140 and we now are on the horizons of USD 60-70. That really is a gift of nearly USD 35-40 billion from what we are used to a year," he said.
If the trend continues for two years, "it's a gift from the world. Last year, we had paid penalty but going forward it's a gift to us," he said.
Asked about the world oil markets, Ambani said they are "marginally over-supplied".
"There are all kinds of theories doing rounds that right now, the economic supremacy is the biggest supremacy. So, if we want to teach Iran, Venezuela, Russia, the three countries that rely on oil revenues the most... The Saudis have decided not to cut which is unusual. So, it's a combination of political and demand-supply," he said.
Stating that India is perpetually short on infrastructure, he said "the challenge was to create financing and governance structures so that infrastructure is fair to users of infrastructure as well as the investors and finally wealth services".
"I think that we will have to have a path to what I call mature governance, and the recognition that any investment will need returns, that return has to be fair and transparent. It has to be fair not only to the investor but also to the users of the infrastructure," he said.
On his much-awaited start of telecom services, Ambani said the business is primarily driven by technology and it is becoming fast and digital services business.
"When I had dinner with a CEO, I told him what the opportunities in India were like. He then said 'Oh, in your country you still charge for voice and SMS? We stopped that a long time ago!'. So, fundamentally, I think that if you think about these businesses, they are changing so fast," he said.
On the traditional retail versus e-commerce, Ambani, whose firm is also among the two retailers in the country, said anyone who could integrate the online-offline world to the best the interest of customer will rule.
