Piyush Goyal terms Indian industry anti-national, raises eyebrows

Union Minister targets Tata group; videos of his address to CII annual meet blocked.

An unprovoked 19-minute tirade from Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal on August 12, asserting that Indian industry’s business practices went against national interests, has left India Inc CEOs baffled, with Mr. Goyal repeatedly singling out the 153-year old Tata group in comments that he said came straight from his ‘heart’. After the Minister’s remarks at the stirred up a hornet’s nest in higher echelons of the government, CII was asked to pull down the video from their Youtube channel. An edited version was uploaded on Thursday night but this had also been blocked by Friday evening. Calling out Tata Sons’ president for infrastructure, defence and aerospace, Banmali Agrawala, Mr. Goyal expressed deep anguish that Tata Sons had opposed rules to help consumers framed by his ministry. “Me, Myself, My company — We all need to go beyond this approach,” said Mr. Goyal, who also holds charge of the Ministries of Textiles and Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution.