India’s growth aspirations must be fuelled by a dual focus on both regular economic expansion and environmentally-sustainable development, according to Zarin Daruwala, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank, India & South Asia.
Speaking at the India Business Leader Awards (IBLA) Jury Meet, Daruwala emphasised that $1 trillion will be required over the next decade for green growth alone, with the challenge being whether India has sufficient resources to achieve this.
Daruwala highlighted that private sector capital expenditure (capex) has not accelerated as much as desired, compounding concerns about meeting green growth targets. “We have to invest in both normal growth and green growth. The challenge will be whether India has enough resources for green growth,” she said, noting that local resources will need to be supplemented by global capital.
“Today, India accounts for only 1% of the global green bond market,” Daruwala pointed out, signalling significant room for improvement. She added that India must take advantage of global pools of capital — both debt and equity — to fund green development projects.
The CEO also urged the government to incentivise green growth through regulatory support and financial perks, citing international examples such as Japan’s interest-free loans for green investments.
“Incentives will be crucial to attract equity and make green development more appealing,” she said, calling on India to step up its regulatory efforts, especially as other nations, like the United States, have already rolled out incentives to drive green growth.
In a broader discussion, Daruwala noted the transformational changes in India’s banking sector over the last two decades. She emphasised the resilience of banks in dealing with challenges like non-performing assets (NPAs) and cybersecurity.
Banking, she said, would continue to play a critical role in India’s economic growth, predicting a 15% growth in credit over the coming years as the sector amplifies the country’s capital expenditure and infrastructure development.
Daruwala also stressed the importance of digitalisation and the services sector in India’s growth narrative, noting that further digitisation would bridge financial inclusion gaps and democratise access to services. India’s growing share of global services exports — from 2% a few years ago to 4.2% today — provides some stability to the rupee-dollar dynamic, she explained.
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