Borrowed less in India in fear of ED, jail: Anil Agarwal

New Delhi, Dec 20 (SocialNews.XYZ) Taking a dig at the legal and regulatory issues in India's business environment, mining baron and Vedanta Resources Founder and Chairman Anil Agarwal on Friday said that he has borrowed less from banks in India due to fear of unwarranted investigations by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and other agencies.

Inn a lighter note at a FICCI event here, he said that investigation agencies might have even put him behind the bars.

"I have taken lesser loans from banks in India, have borrowed mostly from outside. If I would have been here, maybe the ED and others would have created trouble and maybe they would have even put me behind bars," Agarwal quipped.

Further, he observed that contrary to the government support for projects proposed by private firms in countries including the US and China, government agencies create hurdles in India, along with resistance by locals and NGOs.

He said that the government should treat private companies fairly, as they create the most number of jobs and pay large amounts of taxes.

Agarwal, however, said that the business environment has improved in India due to lower corporate tax and lesser government interference.

Vedanta Ltd, Hindustan Zinc Ltd and Bharat Aluminium Company (BALCO) are the subsidiaries of Vedanta Resources operating in India, and earlier in the day, Agarwal had also told media that his company would consider bidding for the Bharat Petroleum Corporation Ltd.

A globally diversified natural resources company, Vedanta Resources is headquarted in London and was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2003.

Source: IANS