Private players must catch up with govt: FM Arun Jaitley to India Inc

INDORE: Taking a jab at Indian industry, Union finance minister Arun Jaitley said that the pace at which the Union government is moving has surpassed that of the private players. "Somebody spoke about pace of growth.I want to remind him that normally industry is ahead of the government, but at the moment the private sector is a little behind government. Public investment pace has picked up. We are waiting for your pace to pick up," he said, addressing a gathering of top industrialists and businessmen here on Saturday.

The Union minister was speaking at the inaugural session of the Global Investors Summit (GIS) hosted by the Madhya Pradesh government, which was attended by top industrialists like Anil Ambani of Reliance Group, Gopichand Hinduja of the Hinduja Group, Kumar Mangalam Birla of the Aditya Birla Group, Shashi Ruia of Essar and Dilip Shanghvi of Sun Pharmaceuticals. Also present were Union minis ters Ravi Shankar Prasad and Narendra Singh Tomar.

Madhya Pradesh's story of transformation is in essence India's growth story, Jaitley said on Saturday. Jaitley outlined how Madhya Pradesh rode the agriculture boom to ef fect a phenomenal turn around in 13 years -from a 'Bimaru' state to one with double-digit growth.

"Madhya Pradesh was at a historical disadvantage when it was carved out. Whatever was left of Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Odisha and undivided Andhra Pradesh made up Madhya Pradesh," Jaitley told a gather ing of over 4,000 investors and business tycoons.

Recalling his visits to the state in 2003 as BJP state incharge, he said, "Bijli, sadak, pani were the major issues for the state...In 13 years, MP has got out of the stigma of being called a Bimaru state...It is transporting water to other states and it's powersurplus. However, the best of MP is yet to come."

When GST is implemented next year, MP will find itself in a uniquely advantageous position, the Union minister predicted. "The historical disadvantage will become an advantage.Goods and services from north to south and east to west will traverse the state," said Jaitley.

The turnaround came when MP achieved 20% growth in agriculture, the finance minister said, adding: "It has been seen that in a state where agriculture growth is good, the chief ministers are re-elected."