Parekh Suggests Large PSU Divestments, Wants Pro-Growth Budget

Parekh, Chairman of financial services giant HDFC, made these remarks in an extensive interview to PTI, wherein he had also talked about steps that are required to improve ease of doing business in the country and to convert prevailing optimism into investments on the ground.

Parekh said a lot of decisions have been taken by the Modi government, “but it is the process... Fast-tracking these processes will ensure improvement on the ease of doing business front”.

He rejected the perception that the Prime Minister was controlling everything and this was reason that was delaying the processes.

On fear among bureaucrats, Parekh said: “Today if I take a business call here at HDFC, and 1—2 years later it goes wrong, in the sense of 10—20 crore, we started a new company and it lost money, I will take the blame, but I won’t be investigated by my board. It will be a wrong call and a business decision that went wrong.

“But in the government, they are questioned and they are hauled up. This is what is preventing the bureaucracy from taking decisions. You have to support the bureaucracy.

“We have very capable people, but why are they not taking decisions? It is because they do not want to be hauled up later and so many of their colleagues are under Investigations. Some for genuine reasons, some for harassments, some for checking. We can change our system if some assurance is given that you will be protected.”
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