What India Inc. Made Of Modi’s Davos Speech

Terrorism, climate change and protectionism were the biggest threats of our times, and the world must unite and reform global institutions to meet these challenges, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said.

Modi called for collaboration by global leaders to work toward a future “where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls”, taking a leaf out of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore's Gitanjali. His plenary address at the World Economic Forum was the first by an Indian Prime Minister in 21 years.

This was a different approach by Modi, who usually pushes the India story aggressively, said Sajjan Jindal, chairman of the JSW Group. Jindal had earlier told BloombergQuint that he expects Modi to “sell India”, by talking about its potential as an investment destination. Instead, the Prime Minister was way more ambitious, using the platform to larger global issues.

Here's what leaders from India Inc. made of PM Modi's near hour-long speech.

‘Well Balanced'

Jindal said that Modi's speech was well balanced and the Prime Minister used words wisely to address the forum. “I thought he has clearly portrayed India's leadership and talked about our history,” he said.

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‘Statesman Over Salesman'

This was the “speech of a global statesman” while the world was listening, said Uday Kotak, billionaire banker and vice-chairman and managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank.

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India's Global Role Takes Centre Stage

The Prime Minister's speech struck the right note for the country, according to Ajit Gulabchand, the chairman of the Hindustan Construction Company Ltd. He addressed the issue of a “fractured world and how to bring it together”, Gulabchand told BloombergQuint.

Modi Chooses ‘A Moral Playground'

Modi did well to highlight India's soft power instead of just speaking about India's economic might, said Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group. The Prime Minister took an inclusive approach by inviting world and corporate leaders assembled at Davos to come to India, saying solutions to the world's biggest problems can be found here.

Mahindra said that while some people may criticise Modi for not focusing on economics at such a forum, he's not in that camp.

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‘Refreshing Vision'

Modi's speech articulated a vision of India “rarely spoken about or discussed at a forum like this” which is expected to be business oriented, said Rajiv Lall, managing director and chief economic officer of IDFC Bank.

The speech had a "very coherent narrative" as it also talked about how India has improved financial inclusion through reforms, Lall added.

‘Measured and Humble'

The Prime Minister's speech was “powerful” as he voiced his aspirations for India with “great charisma in Hindi and not in English”, said John Studzinski, vice-chairman of the Blackstone Group. “His real charisma comes out in Hindi,” he told BloombergQuint.

However, offering “constructive criticism” Studzinski said Modi tried to cover a wide variety of issues, and investors and economy watchers had to wait till the end for his views on the India growth story.