Have TNCs Gained More Than Indian Firms? No

The swadeshi brigade will be disappointed with the poll findings. Asmany as 79.61 per cent of our respondents believe that reforms havehelped both equally;14.56 per cent feel that Manmohanomics has aided foreign companies more than Indian ones;and 5.82 per cent feel that, in fact, Indian companies have gained more fromliberalisa-tion than have TNCs. Says Bhatt of Jardine Fleming: "I think reforms havehelped both, but Indian companies maybe a little more." His logic is simple: Indiancompanies have now seen how wealth is created elsewhere in the world and they are wiserfor it.

"There is a lot of maturity in the market now, because interactionwith foreign companies hasincreased tremendously. International standards of valuation arenow used, so companies have better pricing and project appraisal skills. Prior to thereforms, Indian companies were more concerned with beating the system that existed,because that system was totally against growth. Now, with a neutral system, Indiancompanies are learning to utilise it to their benefit."

Opposition politicians disagree vehemently. Says the BJP’sGovindacharya: "Because of the free-for-all approach to foreign investment, thecompetition between global players and Indian companies is uneven. So, TNCs are dominatingover Indian firms. Our problem is that we have chewed more liberalisa-tion than we candigest." CPI (M) politburo member Sitaram Yechury feels that India should have takena leaf from China’s reforms programme, where "all foreign investment is in thejoint sector, and assets are leased for a period of 20 to 50 years, unlike India, whereTNCs can acquire assets." Corporate India, obviously, thinks otherwise.