Union Minister for Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal’s tirade against India Inc, and the Tata group in particular has now triggered a controversy. The 19-minute-long speech was at the annual meeting of the Confederation of Indian Industries (CII), and according to The Hindu, was uploaded soon after the event on August 12. It was later pulled down, then edited and re-uploaded on August 13, only to be pulled down again. At present, a public video is unavailable.
According to The Hindu, Goyal called out a Tata Sons’ president present at the event, Banmali Agrawala, and reportedly expressed his disappointment that the conglomerate opposed rules to help consumers that were drafted by his ministry. He reportedly said that he conveyed the same sentiment to ‘Chandra’, referring to Tata Sons Chairman N Chandrasekharan.
“When I see Tata Sons, that they are objecting for some consumer benefit laws or regulations that I am bringing in, then frankly it hurts. After buying a few foreign companies, that becomes more important than national good,” he said, according to the Economic Times. “Me, myself, my company, we need to move forward from that,” he said, according to the report.
The Hindu, which said it had a recording of the video, said that Goyal even questioned Tata Steel’s commitment and asked Tata Steel to try to sell their commodities in countries such as Japan and Korea, which he said are ‘nationalistic’, and that Indian companies would import steel even if they could save a small amount.
Moneycontrol reported that as per Goyal, industries need to consider national interest and buy from Indian MSMEs even if it costs a little more. He also questioned industries about their FDI transaction structures, telling them they don’t follow the spirit of the rules.
“I tell you all to rise above fanciful schemes…. the ways you are shown to structure transactions, add this caveat and put this structure. This is how the law can be broken, do this partnership that will be compliant of FDI rules… Lord knows where the spirit of the rules is, but somehow you squeeze it into the ambit of the rules (sic),” he said, according to The Hindu. He also said that they must not “let the greed of some deprive the need of many”.
He also raised issues with India Inc pertaining to the supply of vaccines. As per the present vaccine policy, 25% is reserved for the private sector, and these are paid. Many companies had also made representations in order to be able to procure the vaccine for their employees and dependents.
"Everyone had demanded the same thing back then. Everyone had demanded the same thing, saying why the government is holding back the vaccination to itself. They (corporates) had asked to be allowed to vaccinate on their own. Each one had made tall claims saying they would vaccinate not only their employees but also their families, the neighborhoods, the villages around our factories... I am waiting to see that synergy," Piyush Goyal said, reported Moneycontrol.
He also took issue with startups and investment, stating that foreign companies are coming and buying up Indian startups, and he has raised the issue many times but there has been no movement on the same. The story by The Hindu led to outrage online, with Trinamool Congress MP Mahua Moitra terming it as “unhinged”, and Shiv Sena MP Priyanka Chaturvedi MP calling the statement “shameful”.
Goyal also attacked opposition parties at the CII webinar, saying they did not allow smooth functioning of Parliament and converted the "temple of democracy" into a platform for hooliganism, and it is a "big blot and shame" on people who played "very petty" politics.
"We saw such unsavoury instances being played out in Parliament and top it off with a bunch of lies that were being played out today on TV. Really one feels ashamed that how a poor leadership over the last many decades largely revolving around a few people and their families has actually killed Indian enterprise and Indian animal spirit," Goyal said.
The biggest issue which the opposition was fighting was to block a Bill which should have given domestic insurance companies power to serve the people better, he claimed. "If Parliament is not allowed to function, if our temple of democracy is converted into a platform for hooliganism, for violence, I think it is a big blot and a shame on people who have used our temple of democracy to play out very petty politics and I would say a mindset which was anti-progress, anti-development, and anti-people," Goyal said.
With PTI inputs