Any recovery in the Indian economy will come from an improvement in consumer sentiment, says Shikha Sharma, Managing Director and CEO of Axis Bank, the country’s third largest private lender.

“If markets do well, then people are more willing to spend. India has been a consumption-led economy. So, once the fear and uncertainty declines, then consumption will come back first,” she explained in an exclusive interaction with The Hindu group of publications on Monday.

This is also why Axis Bank has been focussing on retail lending to grow faster than the industry. “Axis Bank always had a very strong retail liability franchise, which is similar (in size) to the largest private sector bank— ICICI Bank,” Sharma told Business Line .

Axis Bank managed a 31 per cent growth in retail loans in 2013-14, trumping its peers.

Interview on p10