Shareholder pressure stops India Inc from speaking out: Anand Mahindra

Mahindra Group chairman Anand Mahindra today said pressure from shareholders for higher returns prevents India Inc from speaking out on social issues and getting embroiled in controversies. The best way a corporate honcho can speak out is through supporting causes he believes in, like liberal education, the outspoken industry leader said. "Many corporates are attacked, saying `you are too careful, you're not taking risks, you're not being outspoken'. I have a simple answer. It is not about courage. I am paid by my shareholders, they do not pay me to court controversies. They certainly want me to make money," he told reporters here. The head of the diversified conglomerate was, however, quick to add that he will speak out once he retires.

"If I give up my business and retire, I'm going to say what the hell I like," he said, speaking at the press conference to launch Krea University which is floated by several corporate leaders including him. Mahindra said universities are important because they are "safe houses of conversations on liberalism".
"The best thing a corporate can do is to fund them rather than court controversies themselves," he added. Leaders of India Inc including Mahindra, Sajjan Jindal, R Seshasayee, S Ramadorai, Kiran Mazumdar Shaw and others have teamed up with academics of repute, including former RBI Governor Raghuram Rajan and Manjul Bhargava, to launch Krea University which is positioning itself as a liberal university.

They plan to invest Rs 750 crore to set up the university. The comments from Mahindra come amid repeated controversies being courted by institutes of higher learning, especially those focusing on humanities such as Jawaharlal Nehru University and the Tata Institute of Social Sciences among others, over various issues. Commenting on the same, and asked if the new varsity fears trouble, Seshasayee said such conflicts will have to be managed, and underlined the need to marry freedom with responsibility.
Last month, Mahindra had spoken, in the presence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, about the crumbling infrastructure in the financial capital.