Govt committed to 1991 replay, says PM

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Friday assured business leaders that his government will usher in the next wave of economic reforms.

“We are committed to the next wave of economic reforms that will make the economy more competitive. We are also committed to the introduction of the Goods & Services Tax in 2012,” he said at the Annual Business Standard Awards function.

The mood in the country, he said, was similar to that in 1991. “I can sense the mood for renewal. We didn’t disappoint then, we won’t do that now,” he said. “I value the impatience and irreverence of the youth. It needs to be translated into constructive action.”

Economic reforms, he said, was the only way corruption could be tackled. There was pressure from the general public for more reforms, he said.

“Discretionary power that favours corruption needs to be curbed. Eternal vigilance is the price of freedom,” he said.

Stressing the importance of economic reforms to curb corruption, the prime minister referred to the telecom sector. Before the sector was opened, people had to pay bribes to get telephone connections, he said, adding the telecom revolution had ended that and even the poorest of the poor had a telephone connection now. However, people had found newer ways with their ingenuity and greed to make quick money, he added.

To push through reforms, the prime minister said, it was essential that Parliament be allowed to function smoothly. The winter session of Parliament was a washout due to an Opposition boycott over the demand for a Joint Parliamentary Committee probe into the 2G spectrum scam. The Budget Session of Parliament, which ended on Friday, saw the introduction of a series of important Bills like those on the Goods & Services Tax and pension and banking reforms.

He said states ruled by the Opposition must think nationally – a reference to their opposition to the Goods & Services Tax Bill. “The challenge before us is sustainability of the economic rise and efficacy of governance. Growth that is not inclusive is not sustainable.”

The function was attended by the country’s top businessmen. Y C Deveshwar, Analjit Singh, Jagdish Khattar (of Carnation), Hari Shankar Singhania, Onkar Singh Kanwar, Rajan Nanda, Rajeev Memani, Arun Bharatram and Atul Singh (of Coca-Cola India) were among the audience.

Talking about the economic reforms initiated 20 years ago, the prime minister said even without the balance-of-payments crisis of that time, there was a strong opinion in favour of liberalisation. The success of the East Asian economies and the collapse of the Communist Bloc helped the process. He added that P V Narasimha Rao, the then prime minister, showed remarkable boldness in embarking on the reform path.

P M Murty, the managing director & CEO of Asian Paints, got the CEO of the Year award. Maruti Suzuki got the award for the Company of the Year; Engineers India Chairman & Managing Director A K Purwaha received the Star PSU of the Year award for his company; GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare CEO Zubair Ahmed received the Star MNC of the Year award; TTK Prestige Chairman T T Jagannathan received the Star SME of the Year award; Smita Godrej Crishna of Godrej & Boyce received the Most Innovative Company of the Year award.

Aniruddha Naha of DSP Blackrock Micro Cap Fund won the Fund Manager of the Year (equity) award, while Amanadeep Chopra and Manish Joshi of UTI Mutual Fund bagged the Fund Manager of the Year (debt) award. MD Mallya, the chairman & managing director of Bank of Baroda, got the Banker of the Year award.