The Hindu Business Line : `Give industry some time'

New Delhi May 27 After taking over as President of the Confederation of Indian Industry, the Chairman and Group CEO, Bharti Enterprises, Mr Sunil Bharti Mittal, has a phenomenal task before him.

The industry is now facing more pressure from the Government to help rein in inflation, make private players accountable and bridge the vast gap between the haves and have-nots.

With the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, having brought issues such as remuneration of CEOs, cartelisation and affirmative action to the fore at the chamber's annual session, Mr Mittal has added task on hand.

He speaks to Business Line on his agenda for the year ahead.

What prompted the Prime Minister to refer to remuneration of CEOs and cartelisation in a public forum?

In the Budget itself, the industry was more or less given a royal ignore. The reason was there are other competing segments of society that needed to be taken care of. I think the industry took the message in its stride and we are going to deliver.

We do indulge in a bilateral discussion if there are any grey areas. This noise came from people within the ruling coalition to the Prime Minister to ensure that the Government's attention is not only diverted to the growth of industry but also to other sections and consequently came the Prime Minister's remarks at the CII annual session.

I think it was appropriate for him to come and talk to industry about the issues of the common man where there are some very sharp contrasts.

And what about the cartelisation issue that the PM referred to?

The Government is frustrated that in some segments of industry the capacity build up has not come about in line with the massive growth that is taking place.

The Government's frustration is justified, but I would urge the Government to be a little patient as in industries, for example cement and steel, very large investment has happened and in the next two or three years capacity expansion would come through.

We must not forget that both these industries were on the verge of bankruptcy only a few years back and now they have come to a point where there is large enough demand and the Government is saying that while you have large influence over the markets, use the influence with responsibility.

There have been issues with pricing for not just steel and cement, but also drugs and fertilisers. Would CII talk to these industries and try to intervene to do something about it?

CII keeps talking to industries and industry captains and the fertiliser, steel and cement are all big industries, so we are talking of big boys here. While CII cannot be an acting agent, but only a catalytic agent, events like this are perfect in CII's agenda formation on Government policies.

While free markets would decide where the prices would go, and the Government is showing no real intention in intervening in the free market, at the same time as a duty the Government will have to intervene and balance supply and demand. All we would say is that give us some more time.

There have been some fragmentations in the membership of chambers. While auto companies have remained with CII, others like steel have moved to certain other chambers. Could there be some more fragmentation?

Historically, CII has been heavily dominated by heavy engineering firms. But over the last decade CII has been an over-arching industry chamber and has a variety of membership, be it small and medium enterprises or services sector companies.

We also have agricultural representatives just as we have steel and cement members. CII is truly an apex industry body.

What concrete steps has the chamber taken in regard to affirmative agenda, apart from instituting a code of conduct?

I think the starting point is the need by industry to change its mindset and work towards a common direction. Dr J.J. Irani (who worked out CII's affirmative action agenda) has achieved a remarkable agenda and if we achieve what he has set for us, we can look at going beyond in the current year.

In my opinion, industry does not have any issue in what has been set for us. If we were to take a roll call in the traditional industry, it would come out pretty strong on the issue of backward class representation.

The issue is to try and have iconic leaders among SCs and STs, senior management among the people of backward classes and this requires scaling, sending them to foreign universities, whatever we can do.

What have the efforts of CII in making India a brand in overseas yielded?

I cannot explain how much difference exists today as far as brand India is concerned. World over whenever a board meets, the question is not `why India' but `why not India'.

I am on the board of the Standard Chartered now. The reason why they have taken for the first time an Indian on board is that they want an Indian perspective in their global board.

From selling portable generators, to being the cellular czar, to being President of the country's apex industry body, how has it been for you? Where do you see yourself going from here?

This year is going be the year of national service for me. There has been a massive restructuring exercise in my company — creation of management boards. Five-six years back I left overseeing operations, but will continue looking at issues of governance and big-ticket growth.

That gives me time to devote this year to national service and would look into issues of industry and within that weave the theme for the year, something that is close to my heart — development of people. I am very clear that if India really has to succeed, it needs to train and educate its younger citizens and make them employable.

While in one year I will never be able to complete the agenda, my job is to create enough momentum in this area in terms of education reforms and creating for India a global pool for skilled management workers. That will be a matter of personal joy if I can lay the foundation for it.

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