New Delhi: As top business leaders debated growth outlook for India under its five-month-old government, Union Minister Piyush Goyal said that investor confidence of the country has reached an all-time high.
"When business succeeds, we will improve the lives of the people," Goyal said here at India Economic Summit as business leaders from India and abroad discussed the country's growth prospects.
"The government believes there is no contradiction between being pro-business and pro-poor," Goyal said, while arguing that the Centre has increased transparency and is taking steps to implement fiscal prudence.
Besides, the government was working to stabilise the economy and return it to the high growth rates of previous years.
It was also seeking to address the issue of corruption, cut bureaucracy and address challenges such as financial inclusion, the infrastructure deficit, and skills development and education, he added.
During a debate on the last day of the Summit, organised by Geneva-based World Economic Forum (WEF) and Indian industry chamber CII, the business leaders and others discussed the performance and promises of the new government.
Bharti Enterprises Founder and Chairman Sunil Bharti Mittal said that India is going in the right direction.
"The path that India has taken will ensure that, in five to seven years, we will be a new society... (Modi) is involving the nation like no other leader has before. Society has to be involved to change this country. I have never seen a more hardworking and transparent government," he added.
Mittal further observed that the Prime Minister is focusing on addressing bottlenecks and creating the enabling environment for the economy to prosper.
Noting that Modi was aiming to change mindsets, he said, "We must give it some time... After five months, we are trying to judge 67 years of governments."
Aruna Roy, Founder of MKSS-Organisation for the Empowerment of Workers and Peasants, however, said that India under the Modi government remains divided and "there is the other India that is unhappy and distressed by a whole spate of promises that have not been fulfilled."
Stating that Modi is not moving fast enough, Roy said, "We are very uncomfortable. There is more rhetoric but very little action and, in some cases, they are going backwards. We don't know what the government is doing. It is an opaque government. We don't have a road map."
Roy also said that Modi is "there as a representative of all of us. But he can't just tweet to us. He can't just have an email address. He has to talk to us."
Goyal, however, responded that Prime Minister is aware that the whole world is watching and assessing his performance.
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