N R Narayana Murthy, co-founder of IT giant Infosys, on Friday lamented that economic activities in India were "stalled" and decisions were not taken by the Manmohan Singh government in time in the Congress-led UPA era.
During his interaction with young entrepreneurs and students at the Indian Institute of Management -- Ahmedabad, Murthy expressed confidence that young minds can make India a worthy competitor of China, the world's second largest economy.
"I used to be on the board of HSBC in London (between 2008 and 2012). In the first few years, when China was mentioned two to three times in the boardroom (during meetings), India's name would be mentioned once," said the well-known businessman in response to a question on where he sees India in the future.
"But unfortunately, I don't know what happened (to India) afterwards. (Former PM) Manmohan Singh was an extraordinary individual and I have tremendous respect for him. But, somehow, India stalled (during UPA era). Decisions were not taken and everything was delayed," said Murthy.
The IT czar said when he left HSBC (in 2012), India's name hardly found a mention during meetings, while China's name was taken nearly 30 times.
"So, I think it is your (young generation) responsibility to make people mention India's name whenever they mention any other country's name, particularly China. I think you people can do that," said Murthy. -- PTI