Decision making is slow in India: L N Mittal

Billionaire Lakshmi N Mittal on Saturday said decision-making in India is slow but he would not complain about policy paralysis.

"We have businesses all over the world. I tell my guys don't complain about the policies, try to adopt...policies...We don't complain. We have tried to adapt to local policies.We will all have to adjust to the new policies," he said after Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh formally launched his investment arm's refinery project.

But, he said, decision making was slow. "Surely things are moving slowly. There is no doubt. Process approval are taking time. The biggest impediment is still infrastructure development," Mittal added.

Asked if the perception of policy paralysis in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government was responsible for slowdown in the economy and loss of investor confidence, Mittal said his philosophy was not to complain but to adapt to local policies.

"For an emerging market like us, we should grow more. There is so much of potential," he said.

Mittal said India was growing slower than its capability as European Union crisis has affected emerging markets.

Mittal, Chairman of ArcelorMittal, the world's biggest steelmaker, said European economy may take 2017 to reach pre-crisis level.

"There was an impression couple of years back that India as an emerging market was decoupled from global economy. But last global crisis has proved that we are not decoupled.

"There is clear relation between global crisis (and) Indian economy," he said.

While the US economy appears to have come out of the 2008 crisis, the recovery in EU would be slow because of various issues, Mittal said.
"My guess is that (for EU) to reach pre-crisis level of 2007, it will be 2016/17," he added.