Staying optimistic key to surviving tough times: LT CFO

CNBC-TV18 honours India Inc's top chief financial officers (CFOs) in a gala event in Mumbai. The CFO of Larsen & Tubro , Shankar Raman won the best CFO of the year award. Kevin DSA of Bajaj won the best CFO award for the auto sector. In the banking space NS Kannan of ICICI Bank bagged the top honours. Sridhar Ramamurthy of Hindustan Unilever won the award for best CFO in for the FMCG sector.

Also Read: Invest in L&T for long term: Doctor

In an exclusive interview to CNBC-TV18, Shankar Raman says, staying optimistic was the only key to survive in this difficult business environment. "We had to keep our options open for any strategies that we were to pursue as a company and always have a plan B because you are not very sure about plan A. The uncertainty taught us couple of things, it taught us how to manage volatility, how to remain certain in an uncertain environment," he adds.

Below is the verbatim transcript of Shankar Raman's interview on CNBC-TV18

Q: It has been a very difficult year, what has stood by you for the last one year that has helped you overcome all the economic and financial challenges that you had to deal with?

A: We had to remain optimistic. The biggest challenge was always to look at the cup as half full because we went through situations where it was difficult to be very decisive about our moves. We had to keep our options open for any strategies that we were to pursue as a company and always have a plan B because you are not very sure about plan A.

The uncertainty taught us couple of things, it taught us how to manage volatility, how to remain certain in an uncertain environment. This means we had to pull levers which are within our control and try to reduce the risk element there and hope and pray that something catastrophic does not occur.

Q: What is your outlook for this new fiscal that we are about to enter? Do you see the prospects for the Indian economy improve and respond to this question while keeping the Budget in mind given what the Finance Minister do as an attempt to bring fiscal deficit under some control?

A: There were a lot of announcements about what needs to be done. The biggest challenge for all of us in the system is going to convert the sentence into actionable points. The solution lies beyond the Budget document and the entire bureaucracy and the policy framework has to get facilitative.

Q: After the cumulative effort of the government (which they keep touting), like Sachin Pilot, Corporate Affairs Minister talk about the Cabinet Committee on Investment (CCI), Finance Minister talk about the fiscal deficit, are you seeing a difference on ground in terms of reviving several big projects that were stuck?

A: There is a movement forward but whether it is adequate, I am not yet sure. However, I do see some anxiety in the minds of people to push ahead and convert the intent into action. There have been some clearances that have been announced. We have also seen National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) making some conciliatory moves in terms of resolution to stuck projects.