Economic activity consolidated in a steady zone in March 2021, said Sanjay Aggarwal, President, PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry, in a statement issued on Saturday.

Also, there is a need to lower interest rates for consumers and businesses, lesser compliances for MSMEs vis-a-vis ease of doing business at the ground level, he said.

Out of the 10 indicators of QET (Quick Economic Trends) of economic and business activity tracked by the industry body PHDCCI, 6 have performed positive in March 2021 of which passenger vehicle sales has shown a highest growth of 125 per cent over the corresponding month in previous year.

It is highly appreciable that India has become the fastest Covid-19 vaccinating country in the world with an average daily rate of 30,93,861 vaccine doses. Therefore, amid the re-emerging COVID-19 cases in the country, the movement of Indian economy remains steady in March 2021, said Aggarwal.

A steady improvement in lead economic and business indicators would go a long way to strengthen the economic growth in the coming quarters with the enhanced level of confidence of businesses, he said.

PHD Chamber had projected more than 1 per cent growth rate of GDP in Q4 FY 2020-21. The economy has potential to accelerate to more than 11 per cent growth trajectory in the next financial year 2021-22, it has said.

10 economic and business indicators of QET include demand and supply indicators along with external and financial sectors indicators.

Economic and business indicators such as GST Collections, E-way Bills, Railway freight, Passenger Vehicle Sales, and Exports have shown a positive y-o-y growth in March 2021 as compared with March 2020, while unemployment registered an improvement in March 2021 over the previous month February 2021.

At this juncture, to continue the pace of economic momentum, rapid administration of Covid-19 vaccination, especially in the states where Covid-19 cases are re-emerging, becomes crucial, said Aggarwal.

Further, immediate policy attention is required towards credit access to industry. Credit disbursement should be the top priority at this juncture by the banking sector. The focus should be on ensuring provision of hassle free disbursements of loans vis-a-vis enhanced liquidity for MSMEs, especially in rural sectors, he added.