Corruption not even whispered since Modi govt came to power: Jaitley

From Barun Jha Davos, Jan 22: Emphasising that steps are being taken to tackle corruption, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley today said the word 'corruption' has not even been whispered since the new government came to power.

Jaitley said corruption not only increases the cost of doing business but also hits the country's credibility. Acknowledging that India has suffered because of corruption, the Finance Minister said Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government has been addressing such issues by way of new laws.

Jaitley was responding to a query from a foreign investor who said that a European CEO told him that his company decided to abandon investment plans in India due to corruption. "I don't blame that gentleman who suggested this because we have suffered because of corruption. It not only increases the cost of doing business but also hits India's credibility," the Finance Minister said.

"There was a lot of mess to clear up," Jaitley said. He was speaking at a CII-BCG breakfast meeting on the topic 'India that Prime Minister Narendra Modi wants to build' on the sidelines of WEF annual meeting. "But a project on the basis of corruption will anyway not succeed as we have a very strong judiciary.

In recent times, major corruption cases have come in with regard to allocation of natural resources but new laws have addressed that part. "Then there was corruption involved in grant of permission (related to businesses), those provisions have also been rationalised," Jaitley said.

"In the last eight months, only one word that has not been even whispered in India is corruption," he said. Modi-led government came to power after sweeping the general polls in May last year. There have been instances of corruption in allocation of coal and spectrum in recent years.

PTI