Pawan Goenka on demonetisation: India very adaptive, will move to “cashless” or “less-cash economy” quickly
Stating that there will only be a short-term impact due to demonetisation, Pawan Goenka said that this shouldn’t be surprising and the situation is improving with every passing day.
The Narendra Modi government has come under severe criticism from the Opposition for its move to demonetise old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes.
Stating that there will only be a short-term impact due to demonetisation, Pawan Goenka, MD, Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd on Tuesday told ET Now that this shouldn’t be surprising and the situataion is improving with every passing day. “Things are beginning to improve, lines have become shorter. Perhaps the 50 days that PM Modi has asked for, by that time we may be in a situtaion where the worst is over.” “I think India is very adaptive. For example, look at mobile phones, no one thought India would be No. 1 or No. 2 in the world in terms of usage of mobile phones. I am already beginning to hear stories on how villagers are using swipe machines without any problem. I completely believe that we will adapt to “cashless” or “less-cash economy” much more quickly,” he said.
The Narendra Modi government has come under severe criticism from the Opposition for its move to demonetise old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes. The reaction on the ground has, however, been mixed. While most people have lauded the move to check black money and corruption, many have said that the implementation, especially when it comes to availability of currency, should have been much better. Struggling to deal with growing anger among the public over cash crunch, the Modi government is issuing new guidelines every few days. These are based on public feedback and are aimed at reducing the problems that common man is facing, following the massive demonetisation drive. The government has also warned that those who are using other people’s bank accounts to convert their black money will be severely punished. Not only that, those who allow their accounts to be misused for this purpose will also face prosecution.
When asked about manufacturing he said, “The biggest bottleneck in manufacturing right now is that enough investment is not happening.” “We need to focus on demand in India and making our goods manufacture in India more, exportable in terms of price and competitive in global markets. If we follow these two things everything else will follow automatically,” he added.
