Daily Voice: Nilesh Shah bets on earnings recovery in Samvat 2083, picks three sectors to watch

Nilesh Shah, Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company (AMC), expects a broad-based earnings recovery in Samvat 2083, alongside sustained economic growth. "The resilience of the Indian economy has been impressive despite elevated oil prices, supply-chain disruptions, a below-average monsoon and US tariffs," he said in an interview with Moneycontrol. The underlying strength is real, but the distribution of costs matters, he added. According to Shah, a decline in oil prices, a reversal in the AI trade and more factual reporting on India's economic performance could help revive foreign portfolio investor (FPI) flows.

Shah believes three areas stand out in Samvat 2083: banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI); premium consumption, including automobiles, travel and healthcare; and modern manufacturing. Do you see early signs of FII flows returning to emerging markets, including India? Could Samvat 2083 turn out to be a year of strong net FII inflows? I spent the last 12 days in the US and Canada meeting pension funds, sovereign wealth funds, family offices and endowment funds. India has never gone off their radar. Some NRIs still view the country through the lens of when they left; others are influenced by persistently negative coverage in parts of the global media.