NEW DELHI: Minister of state for finance and corporate affairs Anurag Thakur discussed the the government’s efforts to recapitalise banks and said that if there was anything lacking in the ease of doing business, it is in the judicial system as India stands at the 163rd position in global ranking. The government is focusing on addressing this, he said. Excerpts:

On India’s global positioning

‘Howdy Modi’ clearly showcased India’s strength and growing power the world over. The same Narendra Modi didn’t have US visa five and a half years ago. He may not have the UK visa too, but he didn’t take it personally. He kept those personal issues on the back burner and emphasised more on country-tocountry relations. He had extremely good relations with President Obama and maintained the same with President Trump. It is not helping him personally, but it is helping the overall positioning of the country.

Ease of doing business

Whatever steps we are taking such as enforcement of rules and laws and others is to look at the arbitration also. Most of the people opt for UK or Singapore for arbitration. In the ease of doing business, if we are lacking anywhere it is in the judicial system. We are standing at 163rd position. The government is focusing on that. We need to address the issues. That is why the government brought the Arbitration Bill.

On slow decision-making

It varies from individual to individual, department to department and applies to every field ––judiciary, politics, bureaucracy or private domain. Yes, I must say, we should be more effective and efficient. There is always scope for betterment. We have done well in the past five years. We have come from the 142nd to 77th position in past five years in ease of doing business.

On jobs data

If you look at EPFO numbers, jobs have increased. We need to look at jobs with a changing mindset. Earlier, we use to look at job opportunity. Today, younger generation is looking at more startups, entrepreneurial spirits. We have set the target that for every old loan, financial institutions should give five new loans. That will add more entrepreneurs and more jobs.

On RBI call on PMS Bank

As a regulator, RBI is looking at details and RBI has been doing well. Let them take the decision.

On fear among banks

No agency will be after bank officials. It will be the bank’s internal decision to decide on vigilance and non-vigilance category of cases. Till the time that is not decided, nobody is coming to them.

On consumer spending

We are going to hold loan melas in 400 destinations covering 730 districts and ensure the money is being passed on to NBFCs, industries, individuals. From Oct 3-7, the first such mela will be organised. This will boost consumer spending.

On bank mergers

Today, what you see is, a big loan is being shared by 4-5 bankers. We need to do capacity building. First, we did recapitalisation of banks and second, mergers. Again, increase their capacity by pumping in more money so that they can lend more. You can’t become a $5 trillion economy without increasing bank capacity.

On income tax

If you look at individual taxes, it was the Modi government which raised the bar from Rs 2.5 lakh to Rs 5 lakh this year. If a need arises to make changes in individual taxes…we did it in the past, we can do it in the future too.

On response of tax cuts

I travelled to six cities post the announcement and met people from various sectors. The mood is very upbeat. We have to lay the red carpet for more investment. Our focus is on making India a $5 trillion economy by 2024-25.

On FDI expectation

In the next two years, we should get record FDI into the country. I won’t be surprised if we see much more than what was initially thought of. The current changes will lead to that. It will take some time, but next two years will be the game changers.

On low GDP numbers

We are taking decisions keeping in mind the long-terms goals of 2024-25. When Parliament session ended, we started discussions with industrial heads, industry associations, traders, businessmen and consumers. That is why we are able to take decisions from automobile to textile to real estate to banks to corporate taxes.

On layoffs in auto industry

Industry leaders from Maruti to Bajaj have made statements on that. The way the automobile industry was growing in the past few years, with the shift in technology, the current time was supposed to come. The good time for automobile industry is about to start.

Published On : 27-09-2019

Source : Economic Times