Sajjan Jindal: Hopeful

July 22: It’s a double treat for Manmohan Singh — the Prime Minister tonight not only won the trust vote on the floor of the Lok Sabha but also managed to garner the support of India Inc in pursuing the unfinished economic reforms agenda.

Hailing the UPA government’s victory in Parliament, corporate India and investors said this win should end the political instability and the focus should now be on economic reforms.

The stock market had been rising since Monday, coinciding with the commencement of the debate on the confidence motion moved by Singh, as if reflecting the belief in the victory of the government.

Apex industry chambers welcomed the Prime Minister's victory in the confidence vote, saying not only the government should push for economic reforms but also take the nuclear deal to its logical conclusion, a move that should help India on the energy front.

“We expect that in the next three months the major bills pending in Parliament, including the pension bill and the banking reform bill, will be pushed through,” Ficci president Rajeev Chandrasekhar said after the results of the trust vote were known.

Congratulating the Prime Minister, Assocham president Sajjan Jindal described the victory as “a vote to the future of India and pragmatic policy pursued by the UPA government for building a strong India.”

Chandrasekhar: Optimistic

Stating that the Congress’s trust vote win has ended days of political uncertainty, CII director-general Chandrajit Banerjee said, “It has come in as a much needed relief for the growth momentum of the Indian economy.”

Chandrasekhar would be proposing to the Prime Minister a 10-point agenda tomorrow to push forward reforms.

Sanjiv Goenka, vice-chairman of RPG Enterprises and past president of the CII, said the result was a foregone conclusion. “We now expect to see a new impetus in nation's economic activities”.

PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry president L. K. Malhotra said the victory would signal stability and continuation, which was good for the economy and industry, as reforms initiated by the government would continue.

Jindal said, “This goes on to prove that majority of people's representatives are all out to support the nuclear civil agreement for meeting India’s energy needs.”

Fieo president Ganesh Gupta said the victory would help in pursuing policies initiated by the UPA government to promote exports.