Revive animal spirits in economy but not at cost of larger issues: Jairam Ramesh

NEW DELHI: Jairam Ramesh, the enfant terrible of the UPA government, has warned that efforts to revive " animal spirits" in industry should be done in a way that "animals don't become man-eaters", injecting a note of caution into a discourse increasingly dominated by how best to bring back a sense of unbridled enthusiasm in the economy.

Ramesh, who holds charge of the rural development ministry, told ET in an interview that unleashing animal spirits was all very well, but it had to be done ethically.

Animal spirits has been a buzzword for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and the UPA government ever since it moved late last year to set aside lethargy in policymaking and shook up the retail, petroleum and aviation sectors.

"I think an obsession with animal spirits to the point of ignoring larger issues that govern the functioning of markets is not good for the country. You must unleash the animal spirits, but do so in a manner that the animals don't become man-eaters," he said.

Read full interview: Proposed Land Bill is for masses, not classes, says Jairam Ramesh

Ramesh, who left his stamp on the environment ministry as a tough minister, has a different take on most issues, be it the new land acquisition bill or his views on the Rahul Gandhi-Vs-Narendra Modi issue.

For business leaders battling high costs and hurdles in acquiring land, he is blunt about the bill's provisions. "Land acquisition costs will increase, time spent acquiring for land acquisition will increase - there is no point running away from this," he said, adding that it was "for the perspirational masses and not necessarily for the aspirational classes".

Framing the ensuing political battle in Rahul-Vs-Modi terms trivialises the issue, he says. "It is a clash of ideologies, of competing visions, of conflicting interpretations of the past, of competing visions... 'Modi versus Rahul' is a good headline, but I don't think it is a reality. I have met senior BJP leaders who have said they will never serve in a Modi administration. So much for Modi versus Rahul."