India’s roaring corporate culture

By: Sauro Dasgupta
Today, Indian pro-business policies are helping woo foreign companies. However, the companies would just not set up here owing to poor infrastructure.
Several investors’ summit under different state governments have always been a success. More than Rs. 50.28 lakh crores of FDI MoUs were promised and delivered in recent years. Most states don’t publish that because their FDI delivery is insignificant.
Governments have been trying to reduce paperwork for corporations to help them invest fast. Reportedly, it would take only 1 day to start a factory in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh as opposed to the normal 25-30 days in other states. Fearing the implementation of these policies, many Opposition groups have been creating protests whenever a new investor comes to town. That will not be a problem if there is strict adherence to the rules and if the state puts its best foot forward to help investors.
We can take the example of the anti-Sterlite protests in Tamil Nadu. Had that Sterlite plant been in place, Indian requirements of copper would have been sufficient and it would have been exporting copper now. Today, as a result of the closure of the plant, we are a net importer of copper from China. There has been similar opposition to the bullet train project, something that has been a huge success throughput the world. Fortunately the government could resist the pressure and go ahead with it along with promoting a vibrant startup culture in strategic areas like defence, space, etc. The Electrical Vehicle Revolution in India also got support from the government and even Hyper loop has plans to invest in India.
There has been a strident opposition to the establishment of private ports, airports and infrastructure. When 1991 reforms happened, there was significant disinvestment in several government firms. There were not much protests then. Today, even our public institutions like museums,monuments, ancient places of worship, educational and health infrastructure requires upgradation, the Opposition gets very angry whenever there is any proposal of leasing them to the corporates for renovation. This need not have occurred had they renovated these institutions when in power.
Most of the Opposition states are in shambles. They suffer from state violence, political killings, extortion, absolute mismanagement, whether in terms of COVID management or Institutional management. No work gets done on time. The common people are absolutely at the mercy of the elite, who have nothing but hate and contempt for them.
In the past eight years, Modi governments has been regularly handing over renovation and development projects to the corporates. This has enabled a new wave of development. The government has also plugged all loopholes in the provision of welfare services to the common people. The Opposition gleams over their failures but refuses to admit them.
PM Modi rightly says that the government has no business to be in business, a continuation of Reaganomics. Till 1991, government firms provided substandard and costly goods to the people. The red tap never allowed the corporates to provide the people with affordable goods and services. We have come a long way since 1991. The government must provide welfare and relief services to the people. It must reduce paperwork and documentation for all, a relic of the colonial Era. The corporates must be given a free hand to run their business as in the advanced Western nations. Unless the government and the private sector work together, no development can take place properly in this country
(The writer is a PG 1 Student, Department of International Relations, Jadavpur University)