When the top guns of India Inc met finance minister Pranab Mukherjee on August 1, they came out satisfied, stating that if at all there was any trust deficit between them and the government, it was over. They had reason to feel the same for the FM had asked each of them to submit to the government specific points which needed attention.
FE has now obtained the wishlists of each prominent industrialist at the meeting, which, in a way, best describe the pain points for the industry on which the government needs to act fast.
Cumbersome environmental and forest clearance processes were a key concern flagged. ADAG chairman Anil Ambani, who has major investments in the country?s power sector, highlighted this. Ambani urged for a single window clearance for environment and forest related issues. He also said that instead of having separate forest and environment clearances, a system for simultaneous clearances should be evolved to save time and accelerate project development.
He received unanimous support from the other 11 industry brethren present at the meeting who all concurred that delays on the part of ministry of environment and forest in giving approvals was creating uncertainty in the industry and driving away foreign investors from India.
Industry veteran and Tata group chairman Ratan Tata went beyond green concerns when he pointed to a near policy paralysis in the government which was creating negative impression for foreign investors. Tata pointed out policy inaction in key reform areas like allowing foreign direct investment in multi-brand retail, pension and insurance sectors and urged the finance minister to move swiftly on the insurance and pension Bill pending in Parliament.
Bharti Airtel?s chief Sunil Mittal stuck to his sector, stating that the auction of 3G spectrum had pushed up prices for the mobile operators, making return on equity lower. He, therefore, suggested that the auction route was not the best mechanism to go forward.
Chairman emeritus of Infosys NR Narayana Murthy also spoke regarding his sector. He urged the FM to relax visa norms to support the IT sector. His solution for the same was to decentralise and thereby speed up the process by delegating powers to regional authorities. Known for his spartan lifestyle, he took up the cause of fellow industrialists who use their private jets for making business trips when he questioned why approvals from the civil aviation ministry were needed for landing of any private jet in the country.
Hero group?s Sunil Kant Munjal challenged the contention that the days of licence-permit raj were over. He pointed out that still 37 forms were required to be filled up before anyone could set up any industrial unit. Therefore, his demand was to simplify the process and reduce the number of formalities.
TVS group chairman Venu Srinivasan said frequent changes in important investment policies was creating a lot of uncertainty for the investors. He wanted the government to extend the popular duty entitlement passbook (DEPB) scheme for exporters and also urged it to honour the commitment to incentivise investments, like the SEZ policy or the National Industrial Manufacturing Zones, to attract foreign players to the country.
Essar group?s chairman Shashi Ruia, who has companies registered in Mauritius, came in support of FDI flows from the country and warned that any attempt to plug the flows would affect the investments in key sectors in the country.
GM Rao and GVK Reddy spoke on ways to make infrastructure financing easy for private players. They urged the government to relax ECB norms and make debt market more vibrant for the sector. Low investment and financing options available for power projects was also stressed by the two.
