India Inc silent on CAA protests, Hero’s Naveen Munjal says may hit image
Most of the prominent India Inc leaders excused themselves from talking on the ongoing protests. A few who responded to queries said that while people have a right to protest, these mass demonstrations contribute to building a negative image and could hit investment sentiment.
Demonstrators shout slogans and hold placards as they arrive at the venue of a protest against a new citizenship law. (Photo: Reuters)
Even as some public figures across sports, cinema, literature and the arts, among others, have come out to speak on the countrywide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and National Register of Citizens (NRC), India Inc has remained largely silent on the issue and its impact on “Brand India”.
The Indian Express tried to speak to a range of prominent India Inc leaders on the sidelines of the FICCI and Assocham events Friday. Most of them excused themselves from talking on the ongoing protests. A few who responded to queries said that while people have a right to protest, these mass demonstrations contribute to building a negative image and could hit investment sentiment.
Naveen Munjal, managing director, Hero Electric, said that he doesn’t know who is right and wrong and that he doesn’t know much about the issue. However, he added: “Any country which has country-wide protest (you look at Hong Kong, India) and where it happens on a mass scale, it certainly has a very negative image in the international media and press. Investors get anxious, people stop coming, tourism comes to a standstill.” He added that while a number of business visitors were supposed to come, “they are cancelling out saying because of the economy … we say it’s no big deal but how the media plays up, that’s a different story.”
While Munjal said that protests are hurting country’s image, Anil Agarwal, chairman of Vedanta Resources did not feel so. Responding to a specific query, Agarwal, on the sidelines of the Assocham Event celebrating its 100 years, said, “I can tell you that out of the three people who are being named as leaders of the world, Narendra Modi is one of them. His brand image is tremendous, there is no question. Government is taking bold decisions, I have never seen any government taking these kind of bold decisions that are very important. I am not a politician and I don’t understand. The only thing I understand is that this government takes decisions without vested interests and that is very important.”
On the protests, Sangita Reddy, joint MD, Apollo Hospitals Enterprises said: “I think it is too early to say (if the protests will have an impact). We need to see how it pans out. I wouldn’t take a bet on this either way right now. I think India is a strong and secular democracy and that is one of our fundamental strengths and it will remain a fundamental strength.” She, however, declined to share her views on CAA and NRC.
The chairman-and-managing director of a leading Gujarat-based pharmaceutical company, who did not wish to be named, said, “I don’t think there is any impact on the industry … I think people have the right to protest but I don’t have a view specifically with respect to this issue.”
A top executive of a large telecommunications firm, who did not wish to be identified said, “It is too early to say if this will affect business. If there is a standstill in the way you do business and you are not able to operate due to agitations, that definitely has an impact, but I think it is still too early to tell.”
There were others including Sanjiv Puri, CMD, ITC; Niranjan Hiranandani, MD, Hiranandani Group; Harshpati Singhania, VC and MD, JK Paper who declined to comment.
Many corporates were in town for the annual convention of Assocham and FICCI and both events were around India’s aspiration to become a $5-trillion economy. While Assocham’s convention attended by the Prime Minister along with others senior Cabinet ministers was on “New India: Aspiring $5 trillion Economy”, FICCI’s annual conference that was attended by several key ministers of the central government among others, was titled, “India: Roadmap to a $5 trillion Economy.”
On November 30, The Indian Express reported that leading corporate voices active on Twitter such as Uday Kotak (CEO, Kotak Mahindra Bank); Anand Mahindra (chairman, Mahindra Group); Harsh Goenka (chairman, RPG Enterprises); Nandan Nilekani (chairman, Infosys); Sanjiv Bajaj (MD, Bajaj Finserv & Bajaj Holdings); Gautam Singhania (CMD, Raymond Ltd); Vijay Shekhar Sharma (founder-CEO, Paytm); and Harsh Mariwala (chairman, Marico) were prominent among many who chose to maintain silence on the GDP numbers on their handles after the government announced a 4.5 per cent growth for the second quarter ending September 2019.
In sharp contrast, when the government announced a cut in the corporate tax rate in September, the entire corporate sector had cheered the move saying it would spur growth.
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