Bajaj flays bribe-paying corporates, says he never did

NEW DELHI: Amid an uproar over corruption in Parliament, leading industrialist Rahul Bajaj on Tuesday hit out at large corporate houses that pay bribes to get jobs done and claimed he never did it.

"Bigger firms should have the guts not to give money," Bajaj said on the sidelines of the India Economic Summit in New Delhi.

The Bajaj Auto chairman added that big corporate houses would find it easier not to be corrupt than small people, but they still give money to get their jobs done.

"They should not," he said. When asked whether he was ever asked for a bribe, Bajaj said "Nobody asked me. They don't have the guts to ask. They know me, my family background."

However, he added, "Corruption is all pervasive in India."

His comments come a day after Tata Group chairman Ratan Tata's comment that he was not comfortable with the idea of paying a Rs 15 crore bribe to a minister, as had been suggested by an industrialist.

Narrating an incident, Tata had said, "I did not want to go to bed knowing well that I set up an airlines by paying Rs 15 crore."

Corruption has been a sore issue for the Congress-led UPA government, which is facing a lot of flak from the Opposition. Stormy scenes were witnessed in Parliament today as Opposition legislators disrupted proceedings, demanding a probe into former telecom minister A Raja's alleged role in the allocation of 2G spectrum to prima facie ineligible operators at throwaway prices.