Now that Adani has been publicly vilified, the media has moved on to the more sensational. The shelf-life of the issue is past its best before date and the Opposition has moved on to the more cringe-worthy. Now is perhaps a good time to look back at the past few months and pick up the pieces.
Granted, the allegations against Adani are not frivolous, and they have killed the largest ever FPO (Follow-on Public Offer) in India, despite it being consummated and later cancelled. Big picture, if what Adani is accused of is illegal, we should see that the law takes its course. If it is not illegal, but unethical, then it is a valuable lesson for Adani and many more businesses, big and small, on how to build better business models. As for the stock markets, the investors will make an evaluation as they should, both in the short term and the long term.
But if there has been an unfair malicious targeting of one of the largest business houses of India, sadly, somewhere something big has broken, and there are too many pieces to pick up. Here are five.
The Indian Growth Story
The immediate impact is of stalling the growth of one of India’s largest infrastructure development companies. Even if Adani survives the scare, the pace has been affected, and affected badly. This, at a time, when we needed growth in all forms, post-pandemic, to regain our stride. Infrastructure development has a multiplier effect on the economy that few other sectors do.
The Marriage Between Government And Business
Claiming an unholy alliance between the ruling dispensation and Adani has impacted the political psyche of the nation in deeper ways than is obvious. Political parties dithering on dealing with businesses, big or small, damages the critical link between policy and economy. Gone are the days, when “profit” was a bad word, when businesses had to line up for a license, when businessmen were shunned publicly, and the State was perennially at war with enterprise. That ship has sailed long back. Today, our political leaders and the Government must engage more deeply with business leaders for nation building without being apologetic. As is said, “it is the economy, stupid”. Millions are currently being pulled out of poverty, thanks to the flourishing of our businesses, as they are today strongly buttressed by policy.
The Soul Of Enterprise
Imagine what entrepreneurs all over this budding start-up capital of the world are thinking now. That the nation which should be celebrating their chutzpah is sliding into one where almost everyone – citizens, media, investors, and regulators alike – is waiting for them to err. This does affect the “ease of doing business” here, much more than the rankings indicate. All entrepreneurs – new age or traditional, tech or non-tech, funded or bootstrapped – are building the nation, and must be celebrated, not denigrated.
The Attractiveness Of India
How long does it take for a business to relocate out of a country that appears hostile to its success? In a flat world of easy movement of capital, labour and resources, not long. And we risk exactly that. The businessmen are here to prosper themselves and to create opportunities for others, and if we, as a nation, make it difficult for them, they will move faster than we think. This is not to say that we compromise with our values to accommodate them, whatever they do, but if the socio-political and economic psyche are off-putting, they will find other places beyond our borders.
The Psyche Of The People
The self-defeating response to the Adani saga by institutions is sadly echoed by the common man who is less privy to the nuances of the case. The overall mindset to criticise, not celebrate, success, unfortunately, is a vestige of our old socialist days of scarcity. Any success was then seen as suspicious, and the failures were ridiculed. Chasing or staying put in jobs was seen as smarter than the effort to create jobs. There is indeed a thin line between healthy scepticism and the crab mentality. The Adani debacle is not for any of us to celebrate, regardless of our proclivities. Nations that are skeptical will only meet, on their way down, those forgiving of the failings of their leaders on their way up.
These are the pieces that need to be found among the debris of this saga, as it still continues to play out. Can we glue them back together and build a nation based on celebration of our entrepreneurs? Our attitude, not time, will tell.
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