At about 7 pm Tuesday,September 18,the big guns of India Inc including Anand Mahindra,Kumar Mangalam Birla,Adi Godrej,Chanda Kochhar and Noel Tata were closeted with Commerce and Industry Minister Anand Sharma at Taj Mahal Palace near the Gateway of India in Mumbai. The message to the minister from the corporate leaders was loud and clear: the government must stay the course and not roll back any of the decisions taken over the last couple of days.
It was indeed after a long time that India Inc was witness to bold government decision making in the third year of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance governments second term. Industrialists present at the Taj Mahal Palace were aware that Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee was preparing to turn her back to the UPA around the same time in Kolkata. But their advice or message to Sharma was clear please stick to your guns.
Godrej said please do not go back on the decisions. Anand Mahindra told Sharma that the government must provide a stable environment. Kochhar said communicate the benefits to farmers and Noel Tata emphasised on the need for the government to continuously engage with the industry. Sharma heard them out,but perhaps at the back of his mind,was hoping that Mamata would see reason and turn around.
Mamata was not one to relent. She invoked maa,mati and manush to pull out of the UPA and said her ministers would resign on Friday,effectively putting the government on a 72-hour notice.
At the Mumbai meeting,though,India Inc gave the commerce and industry minister enough confidence that it was behind the government on all its bold decisions. The UPA government looked as if it had set the tone for the next 18 months. It now needs to sustain the momentum and thereby convince the industry to start putting money on the ground and get back to its investing ways.
The prospect of 5-5.5 per cent economic growth is pushing Corporate India into a shell. This scenario must change. And staying the new course is the only way,the industry has told Sharma.
pv.iyer@expressindia.com
