India's retail inflation rate, based on the consumer price index, has eased from 10.87% in October 2024 to 0.25% in October 2025.
India's retail inflation rate, based on the consumer price index, has eased from 10.87% in October 2024 to 0.25% in October 2025.
New Delhi: Citing benign inflation and stable crude oil prices, The Federation of Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (Ficci)'s new president Anant Goenka on Tuesday said the time is "right" for another 25-basis-point rate cut by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to further boost growth.
India's retail inflation rate, based on the consumer price index, has eased from 10.87% in October 2024 to 0.25% in October 2025. The rate is now below the central bank's target band of 2-6%. And crude oil prices, which have a trickle effect on overall inflation, have eased in recent months. The price of India's crude basket so far this fiscal year has averaged a little over $67 a barrel, benign compared with $78.56 of FY25 and $82.58 of FY24.
"We are hopeful of a rate cut by the RBI. This is the right time," said Goenka, vice-chairman of the RPG Group, adding that the price situation was favourable. "Crude oil prices have also been stable. We believe it's a good time for a 25 basis-point-rate cut to further spur economic growth."
So far this calendar year, the RBI has lowered its repo rate by 100 bps to 5.5%. The policy rate was left unchanged at its last monetary policy review in October. The central bank's Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) is slated to announce its next move on 5 December.
Asked about the moderation seen in goods and services tax (GST) collections growth in November and also in India's October factory output, Goenka said, despite these signals, the outlook for the December quarter and for FY26 remained optimistic. "We are still optimistic about the rest of the year… We are seeing good demand," said Goenka, referring to the 7.9% growth seen in household spending in the September quarter.
"I think the measures taken by the government have been very strong, both the income tax relief in the Union budget and the recent GST reforms in addition to various other reforms that have happened all through the year," Goenka said.
India's GST collections grew slower than usual, just a tad up from a year ago at ₹1.7 trillion in November, hit mainly by a sharp cut in the tax rates and also due to the impact of hiked US tariffs. And as per latest data, the country's industrial output grew just 0.4% in October, as against 3.7% a year ago, while the 2.7% expansion of April-October 2025 has been way slower than the 4% seen a year ago.
There was a lot of uncertainty for about six to eight months this year from supply chain challenges and tariffs on Indian exports, but clarity is emerging on the front, he said, referring to global trade uncertainties around the spiked US tariffs and India's talks for a deal with the world's largest economy.
"India's fundamentals are strong, the balance sheets are deleveraged, profits of companies are okay. Looking at all of that, I'm fairly optimistic that we are ready for fresh capex to come in."
Goenka said businesses should scale up their spending on research and development. "The industry is not spending enough on R&D. Our current expenditure stands at 0.7% of GDP, significantly lower than the developed world's average of 3%. We must increase our investment and broaden our focus beyond India. This includes aiming to solve customer problems in global markets such as Europe and the US by investing in branding, design, packaging, and innovation for those regions. This represents a crucial area for greater collaboration between industry and academia," the industry chamber's chief said.
Goenka said the recent implementation of the new labour codes is a game-changer, significantly boosting the country's ease of doing business. The codes introduce uniformity in rules, benefiting employees with improved retirement benefits, safety, and regulations for gig workers and women working night shifts.
On costs for business due to the labour code rollout, Goenka said no significant impact was seen despite minor wage adjustments on retirement benefits in certain areas. "Fundamentally, there should be no change, especially with increased ease of compliance. While some formalization for gig economy workers might lead to minor cost adjustments, the rapid growth in this sector is expected to offset any additional employee costs," he added.