Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday met top India Inc. honchos including Tata Group patriarch Ratan Tata, Anil Ambani, Gautam Adani, telecom baron Sunil Mittal and Vedanta’s Anil Aggarwal to pick their brains on how to set right the economy and create more jobs, which are pressing concerns for his government ahead of the budget.
Modi “was in listening mode and heard out suggestions ranging from relaxing the fiscal deficit to increase spending which could boost demand, to sector-specific inputs to revive key sectors such as telecom and infrastructure,” said a top official.
The government is keen to improve business sentiments, get industrialists to loosen purse strings and invest and hopefully create jobs. “Beyond the economy, the Prime Minister was open to advice on governance issues and ways to improve the ease of doing business,” said an official.
The government is also looking at a package of measures for the telecom sector which is mired in huge unsustainable debt as well as the power and infrastructure sectors. "The PM wanted to understand what exactly ails these sectors and how to go about remedying things,” the official said.
The economy has been going through a slowdown with July-September growth at a six-year low of 4.5 per cent. India’s infrastructure output also contracted by 1.5 per cent in November, the fourth consecutive month that infrastructure growth, measured by an index of eight core industries, shrank.
The BSE Sensex plunged some 788 points on Monday, its worst fall in six months on fears that US-Iran tensions will engulf the oil-rich West Asian region after US President Donald Trump threatened to sanction Iraq for its apparent support to Iran. Oil prices also shot up to over $ 70 a barrel while the rupee plunged below the psychological Rs 72 to the dollar mark.
The government’s steps till now including slashing corporate tax rates to 22 per cent and pump-priming banks with fresh equity capital besides announcing gap financing for realty and infrastructure projects but they have not yet had any significant impact on the economy.
This is not Modi’s first meeting with Indian business leaders ahead of the budget. Last week he had met top bankers, former finance secretary and one-time right-hand man Hansmukh Adhia besides tech CEOs. Prior to that, he has heard out retailers, textile barons and diamantaires among others.