Ajay Piramal, Chairman, Piramal Enterprises Ltd spoke with BusinessLine on how he sees the last three years impacting corporate India. Excerpts:
How has the Modi government performed in its first three years?
The first three years have seen a lot of progress. One big thing is that corruption is absent at the top levels of the government, both at the Centre and in many of the States. The second thing is the focus on financial inclusion has been positive. Rural inclusion, the fact that there is more being spent on affordable housing, more rural roads, laying of the optic fibre network across the country... these are positives. The third is Aadhaar and the direct benefit transfer. It means money which was being wasted is now going into the hands of the people for whom it was intended.
All this is reflected in that today India’s recognition is at the highest both politically and economically; you are seeing inflow of funds into India. People feel India is good. We stand out.
Do you think enough is happening on the ground?
If you look at rural India, 145 km of roads are being built daily. You can see the 24x7 electricity, you can see the direct benefit transfer. This means rural demand will pick up... That is why people in UP voted (the way they did). If journalists don’t see it, I can't help it.
Have the reforms initiated by the Modi government improved your businesses?
To some extent, it has improved. Why is that we in financial services have started funding many infrastructure projects today, which we were not doing earlier? Earlier, people who were funding them could not be sure if there would be completion. Today, we know there will be.
Modi runs the country like a CEO. As a business leader, do you see similarities?
I don't run a democracy. If I don't like a person, I can fire the hell out of him. Modi can’t do that.
What changes would you like to see happen?
I hope we can see private investment pick up. We need to create more jobs.