What about auto? Is the good time gone or are better days yet to come?
Auto is a secular story, we need to bear in mind, be it two wheelers or four wheelers. The recent census data suggests that this is a decadal story rather than a one-year or a two-year story while volume momentum may drop from time to time because of seasonal or because of base effects, the fact is that India will grow as a car market.
We have seen what has happened in China. It will continue to grow in the two wheeler space as well, though albeit a little slower than what we see in the car market, so auto as a consumer durable is okay. There may be margin pressures due to input costs, there may be royalty pressures. These are company specific issues but on a sectoral basis, I would still look at auto very seriously and keep a presence in our portfolio.