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Corporate caliphs cautious about government promises

Amberish K Diwanji in Delhi

This was the easy part, making speeches, that is. Most of the bigwigs from the Bharatiya Janata Party-led coalition government, besides some top Opposition leaders went up on the dais and spoke...and spoke ... and spoke. Promises flowed, assurances abounded, optimism rose. Alas, if only words were horses...

Will anything come of the two-day hype the hoopla, attended by over 1,100 delegates and invitees, besides scores of mediapersons? Will the stirring speeches of the country's highest echelons of power to the most powerful industrialists and corporate sector people transform into concrete action and substance?

Those attending the Confederation of Indian Industry's annual session in New Delhi on Tuesday and Wednesday remain guardedly optimistic of positive change filtering through.

Optimistic because everyone who spoke, regardless of his political colour, insisted that the thrust was economics and that they and their party were committed to ensuring high growth (incidentally, the theme of the session was 'Bringing Back Growth: Economy, Education, and Employment'.) Guarded because given the mercurial J Jayalalitha, no one was sure how long this government would last, or whether it would be too busy firefighting to have the time and energy to implement any of the promises made.

"We have to watch the government for the next 30 days to seen whether this government means business, or whether it will go the way of previous governments -- promises made and never kept," says Dhruv Sawhney, chairman, Triveni Engineering and Industries.

Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee promised radical policy measures within the next 60 days and spoke of the need for growth, more growth, and still more growth. "Within the next month itself, it will become clear whether the government is moving towards implementing its promises. So there is no need to wait for the entire 60 days to realise its intention. Let us see what action is implemented," adds Sawhney, a former CII president.

Indian politicians are notorious for making promises, but not keeping them. Will this time be any different? "First of all, it is very reassuring that all the political parties agree on the need to ensure higher growth, to improve infrastructure, and on most issues," says Eicher Goodearth Ltd chairman Subodh Bhargava.

"Secondly," adds Bhargava, a former CII president, "It is also true that while we have no problems regarding our intentions, we do regarding implementation. But the positive point is that since there is a national consensus emerging, then one can expect decisions to be taken by the legislature and policy measures announced."

Abhay Firodia, chairman and managing director, Bajaj Tempo, pointed out how despite the many speeches, precious little had been done in the realm of policy decisions. "China recently announced that its government staff will be slashed by 50 per cent. But has any Indian minister even mentioned the need to cut government staff by a measly 10 per cent? We have too many government employees who do too little work anyway," he said.

Firodia added that while the government lamented the resource crunch and industry simultaneously spoke of increased government spending to pump up the economy, no mentioned how this was going to be done. "Certainly one way the government can cut its high expenditure is to reduce the number of people it employs and who do not contribute much to the national economy," he added.

The paradox of insufficient resources and the need for more spending to kickstart the economy -- by now a popular phrase in the lexicon of industrialists, next only to the buzz word 'infrastructure' -- has gripped everyone.

Larsen and Toubro chairman S D Kulkarni said he could see only one way out. "Sell off the public sector companies lock, stock, and barrel," he said laconically. Firodia agreed. "The government has no need to produce unnecessary goods."

Lamenting the low productivity in India, Firodia compared Bombay port with Singapore port. "Both are the same size and employee similar number of workers. Yet, the turnaround time in Singapore is 7 hours, in Bombay, it is 8 days!"

Bajaj Auto chairman Rahul Bajaj, who had supported the BJP during the election, saying the party was not an untouchable for him, agreed that it was make or break time for the government.

"It is a new government without any legacy of the past," he pointed out. "Let us give it some time and see how it perform before we judge it harshly." Bajaj pointed out that with the people increasingly throwing out governments for non-performance, the onus was on the BJP to deliver, otherwise it too would be consigned to the margins of history.

During the many sessions, Opposition leaders spoke of supporting the government in its endeavour to raise economic growth, while ministers pledged to separate economics from the squabbles that fill up the newspapers these days.

Bajaj pooh-poohed the suggestion of not mixing politics with economics. "It is certainly a noble idea, but what is politics without economics?" he asked, and added, "Politics does not exist in a vacuum. What, however, is welcome is the willingness of all the political parties to ensure that the growth rate rises. That is what gives one hope, but let us see what happens."

The first indication of the government's seriousness to keep the various promises that its ministers have made will be the Budget, expected on June 1. Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha has promised a tough Budget, insisting that the fragile-looking government will not shy away from taking hard decisions.

"Much will depend upon the Budget, on the capital outlay in the private and public sector for infrastructure, and on consumer confidence. We have to see what will happen over the next few weeks," says Bhargava.