Chidambaram, Tata differ on global M&As

Would Tatas have bid for the Anglo-Dutch steel giant Corus 10 years ago?

While Finance Minister P Chidambaram believes the group would not have "dared" to think about it, Ratan Tata feels he simply could not have because of "restrictive" policies at that time.

"If I were to ask Tata ten years back if he would have bid for Corus, he would have said - I don't know. But in his heart he would have asked  - How could I dare to?" Chidambaram said while speaking at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas here.

Chidambaram was referring to how Indian firms have changed their outlook and thinking of expanding horizons to exploit opportunities in a rapidly globalising world. "Today India has changed, and Tatas have bid for Corus," he added.

Ratan Tata, however, differed with Chidambaram's views, and said it was not the lack of vision for expansion that would have prevented his group from bidding for Corus, but existing government policies at that time.

"I have a different view from the Finance Minister. I would have simply told him that I could not (have bid for Corus)... Because of the policies," Tata said.

Tata, whose firm Tata Steel is pitched against Brazil's CSN for acquiring Europe's second-largest steelmaker Corus Group Plc in a deal that will create the world's fifth-largest steel company, said the policies ten years ago had a lot of restrictions and foreign exchange remittance was a big hurdle.

The reforms process in the past few years has now enabled Indian entrepreneurs to go global, he added. "As an Indian entrepreneur, I can say lots have changed and policies are much friendlier now," Tata said.