New Delhi: BJP member KJ Alphons on Monday said heavy-loss making companies such as Air India should not be allowed to continue as these have become a resource drain to the exchequer.
Participating in the debate on the Insolvency and Bankruptcy Code (Amendment) Bill 2019, the former minister said companies fall sick as they lack in ethics and morality.
"The fundamental principle we must accept is that unlike in human beings whatever must die must die. Look at Air India, Rs 60,000 crore of people's money, your money, people's money eaten away and there are people who say that Air India should be salvaged. We must let them die and not allow to eat more and more of our resources," the former bureaucrat said.
He further said, "How long do you want these companies on ventilator? For 70 years these companies are on ventilator. It is our money, poor people's money that has been eaten away."
Alphons said that interest rates need to come down in order to make Indian companies competitive across the world.
"What are high interest rates across the world? And what are the lending rates of our banks here. I think they are extremely high. When globally the lending rates are 3-4 per cent and you still lend at 13-14 per cent. How does your industry compete? ..We need to dramatically bring down the interest rates," he said.
He sought better controls, enforcement in order to check corruption at banks. He also attacked independent directors and company auditors like the one in IL&FS who did not report the facts properly.
"I am happy that some directors of banks are going to jail, independent directors must also go to jail...we need a compete change in corporate morality, we need complete change in bureaucratic morality, need change in the banking sector," Alphons said.
He said that not only in real state, people should also be sent to jail for cheating in other sectors as well.
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