Investment cycle needs 'credibility quotient'. Will Modi be the person to provide it?

India’s investment cycle needs a credibility quotient to revive, said Piyush Goyal, National Treasurer of the Bharatiya Janata Party, in a CNBC TV18 interview today.

And that ‘credibility quotient’ would be provided by Narendra Modi, whose track record showed that he could provide “strong and credible leadership”. “Investors are looking for credible leadership that they can trust,” he added. “Modi has shown leadership that does not waver.”

The BJP is set to release its economic manifesto over the three to four days.

The manifesto is expected to focus on job creation, investment revival, manufacturing and infrastructure development. He said the BJP is committed to creating a manifesto that is “do-able”, practical and “fund-able”.

He added that the manifesto will be “thought through”, so that the outcomes “can be achieved”.

On the issue of bank licences:

Goyal said the BJP was against the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) going ahead with the bank licencing process at this late stage in the pre-election period. “I think it is completely improper for the RBI to issue bank licences with elections starting next week,” he said.

In addition, he said the current method of deciding what entities are awarded bank licences is problematic and that the party had “serious reservations” about the entire process.

He also noted that the last time the BJP was in power, they did not agree to the issuance of licences to business houses and public sector undertakings (PSUs).

On the fiscal deficit:

Goyal was critical of the current efforts by the government to make cosmetic changes to show a low fiscal deficit were not good for the nation. “This government has been giving budgets that concealed more than they revealed,” he added.

Finally, he also pointed out that the new government would have to assess wasteful expenses, make PSUs accountable and figure out “how to raise revenues from natural resources”.