'Corus bid was impossible 10 yrs ago due to restrictive policies'
While they agreed that the Tatas could not have bid for Corus 10 years ago, finance minister P Chidambaram and Tata group chairman Ratan Tata had a difference of opinion on the reason for not doing so.
By TNN |
NEW DELHI: While they agreed that the Tatas could not have bid for Corus 10 years ago, finance minister P Chidambaram and Tata group chairman Ratan Tata had a difference of opinion on the reason for not doing so.
While the finance minister said that the Tatas would not have ‘dared’ to think about it, Mr Tata cited the government policies as the reason for not thinking about it. Speaking at the Pravasi Bharatiya Divas, Mr Chidambaram said, “If ten years back, I were to ask Mr Tata if he would have bid for Corus, he would have said ‘I don’t know’. But in his heart he would have asked ‘How could I dare to?’”
“But today India has changed and the Tatas have bid for Corus,” he added, citing the change in the outlook of Indian firms and the increased focus on expanding horizons to exploit opportunities in a rapidly globalising world. Ratan Tata, however, said if the Tatas could not have bid for Corus 10 years ago, it would not have been due to lack of vision for expansion, but because of the government policies at that time.
“I have a different view from the finance minister. I would have simply told him that I could not (have bid for Corus)... because of the policies,” Mr Tata said.
Mr Tata said that the policies ten years ago had a lot of restrictions, foreign exchange remittance was a big hurdle and the reforms process in the past few years has enabled Indian entrepreneurs to go global. “As an Indian entrepreneur, I can say a lot has changed and policies are much friendlier now,” Mr Tata said.
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