New Delhi : Advising the travel industry to cut prices to stay in business, home minister P Chidambaram on Tuesday said it was important in a downturn to stay in business.

‘It is much better to take a hit on the bottomline than on the topline,” Chidambaram said. He was speaking at the National Tourism Awards ceremony.

Complimenting the resilience displayed by Indian industry in dealing with the slowdown, Chidambaram said the country’s economy was likely to find an upturn by October. “By the beginning of the third quarter of 2009-10, by October, we will find an upturn in the economy,” he said.

Commending the performance of Indian businesses and industry during the global downturn, the minister said India stood out as a “shining example” of a resilient economy when the world was engulfed by economic gloom.

Agreeing with him, tourism minister Ambika Soni said that though the outlook was not good, the government would continue to work to improve the situation.