What is an Indian company? Does it really matter!

India's economic policy debates should not be allowed to be held captive by narrow lobbying based on whether a company is owned by Indians or foreigners

The recent rise of a raw brand of economic nationalism has spawned a flurry of highly polemical questions, which are now doing the rounds in political and policy making circles. Such questions pertain to whether an Indian company can be allowed to be acquired by a foreign enterprise or whether foreign direct investment (FDI) norms should be tightened in areas where Indian companies are being acquired by foreign companies. The argument, which no doubt has emerged from the Hindutva agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party, is that the government should support Indian companies and prevent foreign entities from gobbling them