Covid Hurt Us Much More Than Iran War: Raymond Chief Gautam Singhania To NDTV

The war in Iran and its impact do not bother him and the Covid pandemic hurt the economy much more, Raymond Chairman and Managing Director Gautam Singhania has said. 

Speaking to NDTV Profit's Managing Editor Tamanna Inamdar on the opening day of the NDTV World Summit 2026 on Thursday, Singhania noted that it is an interesting time to run a business and operate in India, and domestic consumption plays a big role in this. 

Asked what he thought the biggest pain point for businesses was currently and given options ranging from high oil prices to tariffs, Singhania chose to approach the question from a different angle. 

Acknowledging that oil prices affect several other areas, the entrepreneur said the uncertainty around tariffs will hurt the US itself. 

READ | "India No Longer Spectator": Italy On New Delhi's Growing Peacemaker Role

"This start-stop of tariffs, no tariffs... My personal opinion is that there are going to be fundamental shifts in supply chains to the US because companies like us will want to supply less to the country. Because you cannot stop your production, look for new markets and then go back to the US," he explained, adding that a "new world order" is coming.

"I think Europe is going to be a much more interesting place to operate. India, I think, has signed 33 free trade agreements and it is an interesting time to be here. I think India has really isolated itself from global headwinds. (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi ji has played a fantastic role in this.
So we seem to be doing okay... For us, 85% of consumption is domestic," he said. 

READ | "AI Chatbots Horrible For Learning": Andrew Ng At NDTV World Summit

Inamdar recalled that when she had spoken to Singhania during the Covid pandemic, the Raymond chairman had pointed out that people were working out or eating and would end up buying clothes manufactured by his company.

To a question on whether he was as optimistic despite the Iran war and the uncertainty generated by it, Singhania answered in the affirmative.  

"It's hurting us, but we learn to cope. Covid hurt us much more. We could survive Covid because of the strong domestic consumption story. This is just a blip, in my opinion," he said. 

"I am really not bothered about it. I am an optimistic person. So even if I am bothered about it, I won't show it. We'll fight it and get out of it," he stressed.