India:Hello, Is Anyone Listening?

A Fusillade of Scorching Comments The first rumblings of criticism began early last year and were muzzled by the government. But anguished captains can't but decry the UPA's lack of leadership when nothing seems to be going right for the economy—and the nation. ET presents a list of critical statements business leaders have made against the UPA over a year. Let's hope someone somewhere listens... Budget Took Us Back to Era of '90s: Pawar  Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has said this year's Budget was perceived to have taken India back to the 1990s and called for introspection in the process of appointing key constitutional functionaries such as the Comptroller and Auditor General. "My personal view is that the Budget has created a certain impression that we are going back to the 1990 era … By and large there is unhappiness," Pawar told Rohini Singh & Soma Banerjee, becoming the first Cabinet minister to criticise the Budget. KM Birla  Chairman, Aditya Birla Group, in a letter to Idea Cellular shareholders:  "The proposed policy changes towards spectrum auctioning, pricing and refarming ... bode ill for the (telecom) sector… The biggest overhang is the regulatory environment" JUN 8, '12  Ansgar Sickert  Fraport India MD, in a chat with ET:  "This govt doesn't have any spine or drive... the real problem is the govt seems to be driven not by policy but by politics. The coalition is hamstrung by one of its main partners — no decisions are taken and if they are taken ...they have to be reversed or watered down." Azim Premji  Chairman, Wipro, on a conference call with equity analysts:  "We are working without a leader as a country. If we don't change, we'd be down for years." NRN Murthy  Co-founder of Infosys, in an interview to Morgan Stanley:  "Over the past 3-4 months, India's image seems to have suffered. I feel sad that we have come to this state." Deepak Parekh  Chairman, HDFC, in a letter to shareholders:  "Problems are selfinduced — lack of  • scal rectitude, uncompromising coalition partners, corruption and apathy towards FDI." Ratan Tata in Indian Express:  "I think the FDI limits in a whole series of areas, some of them promised by the govt, have not been done — insurance is a main example, retail is another area, probably the banks are a third, these are things that the free world has come to accept as a given." Mukesh Ambani  In ET's Agenda for Renewal:  "We need more reforms to further release national initiatives and energies inmany new spheres — and this needs to be done fast." Sunil Mittal  Chairman, Bharti Enterprises, on TRAI's recent recommendations:  "This has been the most destructive period of regulatory environment I have seen in 16 years." JAN 17, '11 First open letter by the group of 14:  "We are alarmed at the widespread governance de • cit almost in every sphere of national activity covering govt, business and institutions." OCT 11, '11 Second open letter: "A strong nexus exists between certain corporates, politicians, bureaucrats and power brokers. This is a ... threat for the Indian economy." Standard & Poor's Rating agency  "Paramount political power rests with Sonia Gandhi, who holds no Cabinet position, while the govt is led by an unelected Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who lacks a political base." ... Smell the Coffee...  An ailing economy needs active governance, not hastily contrived quick fixes by a government that's completely out of its depth. On UPA's watch, time has come to a stand still for India. There are no reforms, no policy and no intent to finish tasks on hand. Instead, there has been a spate of controversial decisions that has sunk investor confidence to a new low and spooked foreign investors who have disappeared with their stacks of dollars. From telecom to mining, the government has blundered with an indifference that is galling to say the least. It's truly a shambolic performance by a government headed by the father of economic reforms.