ET Awards: Radical reforms inevitable, even if bitter, says Zarin Daruwala, CEO, Standard Chartered Bank (India)

Radical reforms are inevitable, even if they seem like a bitter pill to swallow, otherwise India cannot aspire to be among the top three economies in the world, Standard Chartered India chief executive Zarin Daruwala said in her closing remarks at ET Awards 2016.

She was referring to the November 8 government announcement, withdrawing Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes as legal tender. “You can’t cross the sea by merely standing and staring at the water,” she said, recalling a quote by Rabindranath Tagore.

Daruwala compared demonetisation to previous radical reforms like compulsory dematerialisation of equity shares in 1999 as well as the Sardar Sarovar Project.


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She described the withdrawal of high-value notes as a singular move with multiple positive impacts. “Near term, it disarms counterfeit currency and black money hoards, and long term it should result in improved flows into the financial sector, widening of the tax base and increase the share of the formal sector. This, combined with GST, will usher in the muchneeded widening of the tax net,” Daruwala said. She ended by quoting Apple founder Steve Jobs: “Let’s go invent tomorrow instead of worrying about what happened yesterday”.


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