Paul forecasts gloomy picture for Indian economy

London, Nov 25 (PTI) His faith in India remains unshaken
but steel magnate Lord Swaraj Paul has little doubt that it
will suffer badly in the current global economic meltdown, a
view contrary to that of many economists who feel that the
country's strong domestic economy will help it deal with the
crisis.

Paul's engineering group, Caparo, has invested heavily in
India where it has opened 22 plants in the last four years but
he bluntly says that the country would suffer more than
Britain because it was quite late in realising the gravity of
the situation.

The 77-year-old Non Resident Indian industrialist
candidly admitted in a newspaper interview here that Caparo
may have to lay off workers and that the group's profits will
fall from the projected 80 to 90 million pounds this year.

Having weathered three previous recessions, Paul said
Britain has dealt with the situation much better than any
other country in the world because it has a "great" Prime
Minister in Gordon Brown. "There is no leader who has taken
the bull by the horn," he said.

He acknowledges that Brown is his friend but adds, "we
also have in him a prime minister who understands the problem
and the situation and the difficulties faced by the people."

"Brown has certainly brought more stability to the
banking industry in Britain," Paul said.

"I said it two years ago, and I say it again now – he is
the best man to get us through this. He is not only trying to
find solutions to the British problem, but he is forming a
model for other countries to follow," the Labour Peer said.

Paul is firmly of the belief that the key to survival in
the current crisis is to take difficult decisions every day.
Even the thought of making someone redundant is "sick" but
"you have to look at the health of the company as a whole."

As for India, Paul remains committed to investments
although his plans will be slowed down. He hopes that India
will take hard decisions to tackle the current crisis.