Business   

India is entrepreneur driven, says Jaitley

By Our Staff Correspondent

MUMBAI, FEB. 28. "The Indian entrepreneur is the role model today. There is a huge sense of entrepreneurship developing in India and if we cover up our infrastructure in the next decade, we can beat anybody,'' said Arun Jaitley, Union Minister for Commerce and Industry and Law and Justice, while delivering a lecture at the 22nd Business India, `Businessman of the Year' 2003 award here.

The award was presented by Mr. Jaitley to Kumar Mangalam Birla, Chairman, Aditya Birla Group. The independent jury which decided on the award comprised Subhash Chandra, Chairman, Zee Telefilms, V. Dhoot, Chairman, Videocon Group, Mihir Doshi, Managing Director, JM Morgan Stanley Securities, Arun Gandhi, Executive Director, Tata Sons, R. Lodha, Chairman, Lodha and Company and S. K. Munjal, Managing Director, Hero Corporation.

"There is always the comparision between India and China in terms of speed of development,'' the Minister said. Quoting an independent analysis done about the comparison, Mr. Jaitley said, "While the Chinese model has been FDI (foreign direct investment) and government driven, India is sounder as it is entrepreneur-driven.

In fact, if we cover up our infrastructure in the next decade, our model is more sustainable.'' "The years that we are passing through will be significant in two decades. While we have missed some opportunities, those have come back and our future will be determined by our ability to exploit them,'' said Mr. Jaitley.

The Minister said the sense of cynicism that was prevalent amid several sections of society was now being replaced by a sense of confidence. "Once this mindset changes, it significantly improves the government's ability to take decisions,'' he said. Further, Mr. Jaitley added that there were several areas of challenges such as agriculture and that there was a huge battle of reform to be fought `within and outside India.''

"There are encouraging trends in other sectors such as services and this was the sector which was the first to notice potential and was in fact, the least affected by the lack of infrastructure,'' he said.

While strongly advocating liberalisation, the Minister said the fears of liberalisation have been proven wrong and the time was ripe for decision making to realise the essence of the concept of `survival of the fittest.'

"This concept is the most relevant and the market will go for products and services that are both the cheapest and the best. We can take advantage of this. There is also a realisation now and that has already been responsible for the growth rates and the arithmetic seen across so many sectors,'' said Mr. Jaitley.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Business

News: Front Page | National | Tamil Nadu | Andhra Pradesh | Karnataka | Kerala | New Delhi | Other States | International | Opinion | Business | Sport | Miscellaneous |
Advts: Classifieds | Employment | Obituary | Updates: Breaking News |

Stories in this Section

• Bharti Televenture's new initiatives
• IPCL issue raises Rs. 1,200 cr.
• India is entrepreneur driven, says Jaitley
• Hemogenomics centre in Bangalore
• Banks asked to use NBFCs for transport finance
• Dr. Reddy's loses to Pfizer in drug ruling
• Judge drops fraud charge against Martha Stewart
• Forex reserves exceed $107 b
• Lupin pact with Baxter
• Unichem to set up U.S. subsidiary

Copyright © 2004, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu