Corporate Affairs Minister M Veerappa Moily has said that India would have been able to avoid corporate frauds and scams in high places, had it put in place regulatory mechanisms and certain policies along with the introduction of liberalisation regime in 1991. Mr. Moily was addressing a seminar on “the future of corporates in India,” organised by television channels ETV Kannada and ETV Urdu in Bangalore last night.

The Corporate Affairs Minister said, since India had not put in place that kind of a mechanism along with the liberalisation policies, growth has happened without restrictions. He said, while growth is good, it has many other components like inclusivity, regulations and it has to be sustainable.

Noting that the Companies Act of 1956 is a very old Act, he said, the country should have come out with a new Act, much earlier. He informed that the Companies Bill of 2011 is on the anvil.

Mr. Moily also pointed out that the Competition Act came only in 2009, while it should have come long back. He said a Competition Policy would hopefully be cleared by the Union Cabinet by next month-end. This policy would boost job creation and GDP and tame inflation. He also informed that a national corporate governance policy would be framed – probably in six months – after due consultations with all stake-holders. He also admitted there is no system to check corruption involving high offices.

Mr. Moily also said that India has approved a public procurement policy only recently, with a law which is going to come. He said, once the public procurement policy and law are in place, 75 per cent of the scope for corruption will disappear.