JSW Group chairman Sajjan Jindal says he is more optimistic about calendar year 2019 than he was about 2018. He expects an uptick in demand this year and a decline in the cost of money.

“I am a little bit more optimistic for the calendar year 2019 over 2018 because I believe that the worst is behind us probably and probably from Q1 we are going to see an uptick in demand and the cost of money coming down. Therefore, I believe that the calendar year 2019 or fiscal year20 (FY20) is going to be a better year than fiscal year19 (FY19),” he said.

Jindal said the insolvency and bankruptcy code (IBC) reform process is making good progress. He added that the process being a bit slow was a little frustrating.

“It is a new reform so a lot of commas and full-stops have to be brought in and have to be corrected. So probably the first 12 cases – four or five have been cleared and rest of them are getting cleared. Two-three more are likely to be over in a couple of months. So we are kind of at the fag-end of this whole cycle,” he said.

“We are looking at various power assets. Right now, the banks have got an extension and it is not in the IBC, once it comes to IBC probably there would be an opportunity and we will look at it,” he further mentioned.

First Published:Feb 20, 2019 9:38 AM IST