New Delhi, Nov 12: Top non-resident Indian businessmen, S P Hinduja, chairman of the Hinduja group, L N Mittal, chairman and chief executive officer of Ispat International and Subhash Chandra, chairman of Essel group and Zee Network have called for greater accountability and transparency in the working of the government if it wants to attract large NRI investments.The three businessmen also called for a change in the mindset of the government, speedy implementation of policies and new administrative mechanism equipped to deal with the demands of the rapidly changing environment, at a session on "Indian Diaspora and promotion of investment flow" at the global Indian entrepreneurs conference here in Thursday.
Ispat International's Mittal felt that India cannot continue to ignore the perception of the country being very corrupt. He felt the country should not live in the belief that the corruption would not be a major issue as long as economic development takes place as happened in the east-Asiancountries.
"The sooner India comes to terms with this issue the better." Hinduja group chairman S P Hinduja recommended that the government should put in place an integrative mechanism to effectively coordinate the collaboration of the various relevant government departments and unify their actions for a common goal, particularly coordination between the ministries and between states and Centre.
He felt India could attract investments to the tune of $40-50 billion if the government speeded up implementation of and clearance for projects. The Hinduja group chairman stated that members of G-7 have expressed keen invest in India.
Zee's Chandra urged the government not to make the NRIs feel as outsiders. "We should be allowed to visit out motherland as and when we desire. Abolish visa requirement for people of Indian origin holding Indian passport", he said.
Taking up cudgels of behalf of those hounded by the enforcement agencies, Chandra cautioned that the "ambitious super-cops and super regulators arenow set to emerge as parallel government whereas as per the constitution, these are executive functions of the government and not of the so called regulators, investigators".
Mittal has also stressed on the need for stability of the government. "It would be beneficial if our political thinkers can come up with solution to reconcile the inevitability of coalition with stability in government, and if need introduce constitutional changes to ensure this does not pose a threat to our economy moving forward."
Hinduja outlined an eight point strategy to overcome problems posing an impediments to attracting investments. He said the government should:
Nominate representatives of overseas Indians to the implementation committee and advisory bodies of industry and economy in order to draw upon their free market experience and vision Restructure and empower the NRI Commission to enable it to resolve the problems and amend regulations Allow hassle free remittance of dividends on non-repatriable NRIinvestment Raise permissible limit for overseas equity investment in banking and insurance to 49 per cent Full equality be extended to overseas and resident nationals Bids once accepted should be honoured and no agency be allowed to interfere Lend greater support to private sector financial institutions with overseas connections in infrastructure funding to enable them to obtain best terms and conditions from the export credit agencies and foreign funding organisations and Make suitable changes in the Fema Bill before it is passed.Hinduja emphasised that government has to change its mind set and this mission needs to be taken forward as of yesterday.
Mittal felt the government needs to change its mind set on public enterprises bring in professional management at the earliest. He stated that the country's attempts to reform the public sector with limited disinvestment instead of privatisation did not lend credibility.
He said, the government needs to "give industrythe ability to revitalise itself and to allow those that are incurably sick to die with dignity". Alongside well reasoned exit policy that is "socially acceptable and economically viable should be brought into existence urgently and with a strong will".
Underscoring the need to bring down cost of manufacturing steel in the country, Mittal said, domestic manufacturers should begin the process of consolidation in the sector to become more competitive and viable. He pointed out that while India manufactures hot rolled steel at $350, Brazil managed to produce it for $200. Mittal said his company, despite being the lowest cost steel manufacturer, was facing competitive pressures due to globalisation.
Mittal also highlighted the need to maintain separate roles for politicians, bureaucrats and industry. "As the democracy matures it is essential to divorce these roles and to have a clear definition and expectations for all." The Ispat chairman has also called for financial sector restructuring to avoid the crisisof the kind seen in Japan and South East Asia. As for changes required in the administrative system, Mittal felt the system cannot be blamed for all difficulties. Instead, the government should reduce the number of employees by half.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
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