India Inc wants speedy reforms

Industry and trade bodies said the return of a stable BJP-led government would ensure certainty in economic policy and aid industrial recovery. Both the Confederation of Indian Industry CII and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry FICCI wanted the new government to take an early initiative to clear pending economic legislations including the insurance bill and further economic reforms.

State Bank of Indiachairman G G Vaidya termed the poll outcome and Moody8217;s upgrading of India from stable to positive as quot;welcome developmentsquot;. He said he was happy with the prospect of a stable government at the centre and expected Yashwant Sinha to continue as Finance Minister.

Bombay Stock Exchange president Anand Rathi hoped the government would enact legislations for introduction of derivatives trading. Cyberlaws and corporatisation of state electricity boards were two other areas which needed government attention.

National Stock Exchange managing director R H Patil felt the government could take bold steps to reduce fiscal deficit now that it had a working majority, quot;provided it had the desire to do soquot;. He was of the opinion the quot;CEO of APquot; would push for further reforms and force other states to follow. Kotak Securities managing director C Jayaram also favoured hard decisions to push forward economic reforms.

quot;We expect the new government to be more stable than the previous one as the NDA had cemented a pre-pollalliance. Besides the cabinet is experienced,quot; CII president Rahul Bajaj said, adding that there was reason to believe industrial growth rate would touch seven to eight per cent in the current fiscal. quot;This recovery will be durable now,quot; he asserted.

Larsen amp; Toubro chief executive and managing director A M Naik emphasised speedy implementation of infrastructure reforms, especially in energy and telecom sectors. He called for narrowing down the fiscal deficit and accelerating financial sector reforms.

Godrej Soaps managing director Adi Godrej said, quot;Liberalisation and globalisation of the Indian economy should not only continue but also be accelerated.quot; The economic agenda of the new government should include legislation for private sector entry into insurance, passing of the new Companies Act and accelerate privatisation of public sector undertakings, he said.

FICCI president Sudhir Jalan said the new government should bring down interest rates, reduce government borrowings, expedite implementation ofinfrastructure projects and speed up disinvestment in state-owned companies to consolidate the process of economic recovery.

KPMG India managing director J Rajagopal said the return of TDP to power in Andhra Pradesh indicated people were responding to governments which quot;performedquot;. He was also upbeat on the upgrading of India. Jardine Fleming director and chief investment officer U R Bhat said government should take steps to complete its unfinished agenda with respect to privatisation, patent laws, opening up of insurance sector and introduction of derivatives trading.

Eminent jurist Nani A Palkhivala, however, had a negative opinion and termed the situation unsatisfactory. quot;What we need is a stable government which the NDA may not be able to give as staying together is not in their blood,quot; he said, quot;in the interest of the country and democracy, we need a stable government.quot;

Indian Merchants8217; Chamber IMC president Pradeep B Chinai expressed optimism that the NDA would widen and deepen the scope ofeconomic reforms and pass important pending economic bills at the earliest. Videocon group chairman Venugopal Dhoot said the new government should initiate policies to attract foreign capital.