“Wealth creation ultimately births national pride”: More big names support PM Modi's stand on wealth creators

A day after India Inc came out strongly in support of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments favouring the celebration of wealth creators in his exclusive interview to the India Today Group, more big names came out backing his views on Saturday.

RPG Group chairman Harsh Goenka told BT: “The building blocks of the nation will need creators of every kind.”

“Creators of art, literature, sporting events, scientific innovation, food, hardware, software and so on. Wealth too is part of that equation because by-products of wealth creation are employment, GDP, organised commerce, entrepreneurship and everything that partners governmental interventions to development. And that ultimately births national pride,” Goenka added.

Haigreve Khaitan, Partner at well-known law firm Khaitan & Co also came out strongly in support of Modi’s comments.

“It is only right to commend those who create wealth and opportunities not only for themselves but also the communities around them. It is through the hard work and resilience of exceptional Indians that the economy has grown from strength to strength in the past decade,” Khaitan said.

“Risk-takers who identified business opportunities to be met have provided platforms for millions of others to grow along with them as the benefits of wealth creation flow downstream. The government’s steadfast support for entrepreneurs and their ambitious goals is an encouraging sight,” Khaitan added.

“With India now among the top 5 global economies, the way we perceive and celebrate wealth creation has evolved. Today, wealth creation is not just limited to the big institutions and corporates or the big cities, it is much more mainstream in a very democratic way,” Sanjeev Krishan, Chairperson, PwC in India, told BT.

“The government’s focus on building an enabling ecosystem –through investments in infrastructure, policy making, technology and ease of doing business—has provided great impetus to smaller organisations and investors to grow. What is extremely heartening is that today in India wealth creation cuts across demographic segments and industry sectors. This further leads to the India growth story becoming more encompassing and reaching the true Bharat,” Krishan said.

Prime Minister Modi had in the interview unapologetically supported celebrating wealth creators and achievers, and also called for more Indian companies to go global with their ambitions. The interview resonated with India Inc., and business leaders like Ajay Piramal and Abhinandan Lodha, serial entrepreneur Krishnan Ganesh, investment banker Manisha Girotra and tax expert Dinesh Kanabar supported the PM’s views strongly on Friday.