Vedanta chief urges govt to give free hand to entrepreneurs

India has a large pool of bright entrepreneurs and the government should give them a free hand particularly in areas like natural resources and exploration to reduce dependence on imports and become self-reliant, said Anil Agarwal, founder of Vedanta Group.

More than 50 per cent of our revenues are used in natural resources, such as oil gas, gold, copper, fertiliser, potash, and even electronics. The chairman of the multinational mining major said that they should not be allowed to make money while speaking to Business Today at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

He stated that the government has no business and while the current government does not want to be in business, the government machinery and judiciary also has to work through digital to empower people. He pointed out that start-ups with so much technology tools, including artificial intelligence and data collection, can be part of exploration activities because India has abundant natural resources.

He added that India has been in a sweet spot due to the ongoing geopolitical and macroeconomic concerns which have put the country in a sweet spot, especially at a time when many people don't work with China.

It is very unfortunate what happened in Ukraine. This has positioned India in a very sweet spot. People don't like to work with the Chinese people and they're looking at alternative people. They are comfortable with Indian regulators and this government has created a lot of credibility, he said.

He cautioned that India is in a vulnerable position due to the fact that most of the prices have already doubled, given India s dependence on commodity imports.

Commodity prices have not gone up due to a shortage of the commodity, but because of the sanctions he says India is in a very vulnerable position because we don't have a lot of these things and we need to import commodity price already, he said.