Ben Driggs stated that the American giant is optimistic about India's operations

Despite widespread concerns about a worldwide recession and its likely effects on the Indian economy, American multinational conglomerate Honeywell is still optimistic about the local economy’s growth prospects. Although developed economies, including the US and the European nations, are facing an imminent threat of slowing growth, India is well-positioned to drive global growth in 2023.

Ben Driggs, President of Global High Growth Regions, Honeywell (HON: NASDAQ) stated that they are very optimistic about India and they have been present in India for a long time and have a strong presence with well over 12,000 employees. The most exciting part of India in recent times is the convergence of a remarkable set of infrastructure projects that are helping the country move forward. He also added that India has several innovative companies and the start-up environment is strong. This is leading to extraordinary economic growth for the country in the long term.

Further, Driggs mentioned that India is a bright spot for growth, apart from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Latin America. The macroeconomic circumstances are uncertain, according to him. However, the couple of industries that Honeywell is involved in, including aviation and energy, have excellent tailwinds in India. India is strong in trends like digitization. Therefore, they are optimistic about India and the sector that they serve in the economy. Since the pandemic, lockdowns in various economies and geopolitical tensions have had a servility impact on the global supply chain imparting manufacturing and leading to steep inflations in several quarters.

While the situation is improving and the supply-side bottlenecks are being resolved, there are still many channels that should be addressed. There aren’t any easy fixes that can change things overnight. In India, there are three production facilities, and those sites and others across the globe are observing improvements.

Stressing the improving prospects of the country in the global manufacturing landscape, Driggs added that their partners and supply base in India is strong; they announced in 2022 that an Indian company will produce Honeywell’s best environment-friendly gas refrigerator in India as they had confidence that Indian firms could produce the same at a world-class level. Even in the aerospace industry, there are some phenomenal suppliers.

Honeywell has been in favor of having multiple manufacturing centers, a phenomenon that has gained steam since the pandemic-related disruptions severely impacted supply chains due to the prolonged lockdown in a few countries. At Honeywell, they have the philosophy that there is a need for multiple regional hubs and not just one center. Moreover, they are content with their India operations today.