SEBI chief ‘anguished’ on reforms delay

The Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairman, UK Sinha, on Friday came down heavily on delays in implementing reforms and said there is an urgency to revive investor sentiment and arrest faltering growth. HT reports.

The Security and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) chairman, UK Sinha, on Friday came down heavily on delays in implementing reforms and said there is an urgency to revive investor sentiment and arrest faltering growth.

“Some of the reforms, which have long been pending and one example being pension reforms... it has been years and years that some of these reforms... are yet to come through,” Sinha said at the Skoch Summit on Friday.

Sinha also criticised the way in which FDI in retail and pension bill were handled.

“We all know what happened to FDI in retail, the pension bill.,” he said adding that the investor sentiments needed to be revived immediately and that complacency (in policy making) should not creep in.

“... that is something all of us have to counter very seriously, that how long can we go on deferring this... We cannot become complacent about policy making and implementation domestically.”

India has recorded one of the slowest growth rate in the past eight years at 5.3% between January-March this year. The government has faced severe criticism from several quarters for the so-called policy paralysis and its inability to implement the reforms.

“If we start making some progress on these things (reforms), then in spite of the forecast about our economy coming down from the higher levels of 2007-08; we can again come to levels which are commendable in comparison to any part of the world,” he said.

According to a CMIE estimate, as many as Rs 5 trillion worth of projects, mostly in the power and steel sectors, and running into 500 projects, were stalled in FY 2012.

(With inputs from PTI)