India Inc expects 'renewed vigour in economy' under Modi 2.0

Several leading industrialists, including Reliance Industries CMD Mukesh Ambani, Vedanta Resources Limited executive chairman Anil Agarwal, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons Ratan Tata, Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra, Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Welspun Group chairman and Assocham president B K Goenka, attended the swearing-in ceremony.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government's new Cabinet will infuse renewed vigour in India's economy with landmark reforms on the back of a decisive mandate as the country aims to become a global economic power house, India Inc said on Thursday.

Modi on Thursday was sworn in as the prime minister for a second term, heading the National Democratic Alliance government, in the presence of a large gathering of national and international dignitaries.

Several leading industrialists, including Reliance Industries CMD Mukesh Ambani, Vedanta Resources Limited executive chairman Anil Agarwal, chairman emeritus of Tata Sons Ratan Tata, Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra, Paytm Founder and CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma, Welspun Group chairman and Assocham president B K Goenka, attended the swearing-in ceremony.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has taken care to include experienced leaders with proven ability who have led new initiatives with great success in the past.

“The addition of new inclusions in the Council of Ministers will help to bring in fresh ideas under the guidance and leadership of the Prime Minister," CII president Vikram Kirloskar said.

Tweeting while on his way to attend the ceremony, Mahindra said, "Bumper to bumper as the sun sets on the way to the PM's swearing in ceremony. But of course it's the dawn of a new government & of new opportunities."

ITC Ltd CMD Sanjiv Puri said Modi's "visionary leadership, with a clarion call to address 'National Ambitions, Regional Aspirations' will accelerate all round socio-economic development with sectors like agriculture and food processing receiving larger impetus, leading to farmer empowerment and generation of large scale sustainable livelihoods".

"Empowered with a huge mandate", Goenka said, "it is expected that the government would be able to undertake some landmark reforms in several key areas like taxation, labour and land."

He further said, "Some of the path-breaking reforms such as GST, Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code are bound to get a further push that will help India Inc deal with issues in the banking and financial sector."

"The man on mission, our PM @narendramodi with his team!," Paytm founder Sharma tweeted.

As the evening descended in the forecourt of Rashtrapati Bhawan, leading luminaries like RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das, Essar director Prashant Ruia, Tata Group chairman N Chandrasekaran, Vedanta chairman Anil Aggarwal and HDFC’s Deepak Parekh walked in for the grand ceremony.

Tata and Chandrasekaran were among the early arrivals at the venue, and were seen engaged in discussions as the other guests arrived on the red carpet. Sharing seats in the front row, along with the Tata top executives, was TV baron Rajat Sharma.

The RBI Governor also arrived early for the high-profile ceremony marking Modi's second tenure as the PM.

Mukesh Ambani came with wife Neeta and youngest son Anant, while his group executive and Rajya Sabha MP Parimal Nathwani arrived separately.

The business leaders mingled with Cabinet ministers and senior BJP functionaries including Amit Shah as they waited for the proceedings to begin.

After a landslide election victory in the 17th Lok Sabha elections, Modi-led BJP had secured 303 seats on its own.

The swearing-in ceremony, administered by President Ram Nath Kovind, for the Modi 2.0 government is a grand affair with an estimated over 6,000 invitees.

These include leaders from the BIMSTEC countries, former PM Manmohan Singh, chief ministers, corporate honchos and a galaxy of film stars.

Other prominent faces included NITI Aayog member Ramesh Chand, Bharti Group's Rakesh Bharti Mittal and Rajan Bharti Mittal, Economic Affairs Secretary Subhash Chandra Garg, IT industry veteran NR Narayana Murthy, Videocon's Rajkumar Dhoot, Kalyan Jewellers managing director T S Kalyanaraman Iyer and Nepal's CG Group chairman Binod Choudhary.