Article misrepresented Ratan Tata: Tata sons

Tata Sons on Saturday, through a media statement, said observations made by its outgoing chairman Ratan Tata about the Indian Prime Minister and Indian business environment in an interview to a London-based newspaper, The Financial Times, have been “sensationalised…without taking into cognisance the tone, tenor and context of the interview”.

The newspaper had quoted Tata as being critical of “government inaction”, which was "driving investment away from the country and forcing groups like his own to seek growth overseas”. The newspaper had reported that “he [Tata] was especially critical of the government of Manmohan Singh”.

Tata Sons said its chairman spoke about "coherence in implementation of government policy as a need. The media statement said phrases like ‘lashes into the PM’, ‘rapping India’, ‘warning government of inaction’ or ‘venal business environment’ did not represent what Tata said.

“These are terms used by the publications and not by Mr Tata in any manner,” the statement said. The company statement added, “Mr Tata has always supported the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, even when there was mass criticism of him and the last thing he would wish to do is to be a critic of the Prime Minister, as has been reported.”

The Tata Sons statement also released “relevant portions” of the interview in which when he was asked what made his company look abroad for growth Tata is quoted as saying, “You may have the Prime Minister’s office saying one thing and maybe one of the Ministers having a different view. That doesn’t happen in most countries.

So you wouldn’t have an eight-year or seven-year wait to get all the clearances for a steel plant or as in the case of the airlines four or five years without any decision. These are the things that by and large would drive investors away in most other countries, if they were practised”.

To a question whether it was getting more difficult to do business in India, the statement quoted Tata as saying, “You know, I have always been bullish about India’s potential. I still am and I feel India is a country that really has an enormous amount of potential and has the human capital to succeed. But if you sit down and say will it succeed?.”