FDI norms needed to be relaxed for India Inc: Murthy

He said the role of IT in improving productivity has been significant in the past couple of decades. The priority now should be more on the other instruments of growth rather than just IT. The government should make it very easy for FDI to come into the country. As long as there is control and suspicion of what comes in then it’s very unlikely that the people get what they want. So the bottom-line is, he emphasised, is to make it easy for these investments to come, in whatever sector there is. The sectors, he pointed out which will benefit from this is the financial sector, the business process outsourcing sector (BPO), the automobile components sector.

According to Murthy, there are two hilarious concepts in India which is why the issue on FDI persists. He says “one is called MAFA, that is, mistaking articulation for accomplishment. The second is, when we say in India, all said and done, what we really mean is, everything is said and nothing is done. Like it or not, we are a debating society. Just as other countries like Brazil, China have done, we have to say enough is enough and now it’s time for action. Otherwise we will continue to be a MAFA society.”

On India Inc embracing IT, he said that the Indian enterprises and even the govt are embracing IT much more warmly than ever before. The reason is, competition is increasing and a focus on productivity. Secondly, the democracy is demanding more transparency and accountability from the government. He added that in the last couple of years, India has done a very good job in IT. But India is still a nation of billion people so a million or so people working in IT or related areas don’t get as much noticed. That’s where there is a need to create better enthusiasm by creating visible signs of growth like world class airports and highways.

When questioned on the challenges in making politicians aware on the potential of the IT sector in India, Murthy answered “Leadership is all about courage, courage to dream big, to take tough decisions, etc. Second, it is the ability to raise the aspirations of people and third, to be open minded and to accept great ideas from different countries and cultures across the world and fourth, recognition of two India’s — rural and urban and to work towards the growth of both of them.”