Manmohan Singh Was Extraordinary, But Slow Decision Making Stalled India: Narayana Murthy

"There was a time when most people from other countries looked down upon India, but today, there is a certain level of respect for the country, which has now become the world's fifth largest economy."

IT czar and Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy on Friday lamented that economic activities in India were stalled during Congress-led UPA government despite the fact that Manmohan Singh, an "extraordinary Individual" was at the helm of affairs, reported news agency ANI.

Murthy made the remarks during his interaction with young entrepreneurs and students at the Indian Institute of Management - Ahmedabad (IIMA). He also expressed confidence in the potential of the young generation in making India a worthy competitor of its rival China.

"I used to be on the board of HSBC in London (between 2008 and 2012). In the first few years, when China was mentioned two to three times in the boardroom (during meetings), India's name would be mentioned once," said the businessman while responding to a question on India's future, reported ANI.

He also compared UPA government of Manmohan Singh with the current government and said that delays in taking decisions hurt the economy of the country. He, however, did not forget to credit the former prime minister for the 1991 economic reforms.

"I dont know what happened afterwards. During Manmohan Singh's government, who is an extraordinary individual, for whom I have tremendous respect, somehow India stalled. Decisions were not taken quickly, everything was delayed. And by the time I left (HSBC), if China's name was mentioned 30 times, India's name was hardly found to be mentioned once," said Murthy during the interaction, as reported by ANI.

On being asked about where he sees India in the future, Murthy said, "It is the responsibility of the young generation to make people mention India's name, whenever they mention any other country's name, particularly China and exuded confidence that the young generation will be able to do that."

Murthy was all praise for the 'Make In India' and 'Startup India' initiatives of the Narendra Modi-led government and pointed out that here is a "certain level of respect for the country" now.

"There was a time when most people from other countries looked down upon India, but today, there is a certain level of respect for the country, which has now become the world's fifth largest economy."