The Indian Express (Delhi Edition)
FM: India takes issue of defaulters very seriously, may take it up with UK govt
FINANCE MINISTER Arun Jaitley on Monday said the Indian government takes the issue of defaulters very seriously and indicated that he may raise the issue of defaulters based in Britain with the UK government, in an apparent reference to liquor baron Vijay Mallya.
“Certainly, when the opportunity does come, I do take that opportunity to mention it (issue of defaulters based in Britain) to my counterparts here,” he told reporters here when asked if the issue of defaulters based in the UK will feature on the agenda of his discussions with British ministers.
“As far as the government of India is concerned, we take this issue of defaults against the financial system in India very seriously and we have already sent a strong signal that if [you] dupe the exchequer or dupe the banking system, the government of India will lend its full support to all financial institutions to recover up to their last pie,” Jaitley told reporters at a media briefing in London on Monday.
“It is obvious that because of this strong position the government has taken, that some defaulters are on the run. Being on the run, they find refuge in certain other jurisdictions, exploiting the systems in other parts of the world,” the minister added.
He said Indian investigating agencies are utilising every provision of the law available to them to recover amounts and attach assets in India to “get these people back and held responsible as per law”.
Earlier, the finance minister opened the London Stock Exchange in a special ceremony following which he discussed with investors the role of London in developing India’s fin-tech ecosystem and delivering infrastructure development priorities. The ceremony was also attended by UK minister for international trade, Liam Fox.
Following the market open ceremony, Nikhil Rathi, CEO, London Stock Exchange (LSE) plc, hosted a roundtable event with Jaitley, delegates from the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce & Industry (FICCI), fin-tech companiesandleading investors.
Fox described the India-uk relationship as a “hugely important” partnership.
“The Uk-india investment relationship is hugely important. India is now the third largest investor and second largest job creator in the UK; the UK is the largest G20 investor in India and plays an important role in building skills in the Indian workforce,” he said.
“The UK Government is committed to deepening this relationship further and in my first months as Secretary of State for International Trade, I’ve been lucky enough to visit India twice ..,” he added.