Uday Kotak warns India yet to feel heat of Gulf war

Former banker Uday Kotak has said the world is witnessing a return of a “tribal mindset”, with control over tangible assets getting concentrated in a few hands.

Speaking at the Confederation of Indian Industry Annual Business Summit on Tuesday, May 12, Kotak said, “We are living in a world where we are seeing a significant control over tangible assets getting concentrated in a few hands.”

He added that despite a high probability of global conditions “going back to mean”, some structural shifts underway across parts of the world are likely to persist.

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“Seeing tribal mindset coming back in our lives,” Kotak said, adding that in such an environment, countries and businesses need to focus on strategic control over assets and profitability.

“We need to be strategic, real and in this tribal mindset world, what matters is control over assets, supported by a strong P&L,” he said.

Kotak also warned that the impact of the ongoing Middle East conflict on energy prices has not yet fully filtered through to consumers and businesses.

“We have not seen the impact in the last two months of the Middle East war in terms of energy price transmission. It’s coming, and it’s coming big, and consumers have not felt the pressure at all,” he said, cautioning industry to brace for “rough weather”.

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Drawing a comparison with the United States, Kotak said the same country that was “horribly dependent for energy in the 80s” has now managed to address that vulnerability.

Referring to India’s priorities, Kotak said the country needs to significantly raise its “Brahma” and “Vishnu” quotient.