Law of the land should have sanctity; No restropective tax: Tata

The outgoing Chairman of the Tata group Ratan Tata is "rattled" by India's current image emerging from scams and retrospective taxation, and wants the government to give an "irreversible commitment" that law of the land has sanctity.

"Never before has India had that kind of image," he said in a freewheeling interview to PTI three weeks ahead of his retirement on December 28 after serving the group for 50 years including 21 years as Chairman.

In the hour-long interview, Tata, who turns 75 later this month, spoke about the major decisions taken during his chairmanship, the current investment scenario, and business ethics and crony capitalism.

India has been "hurt" by scams, court process and some of the retrospective taxation acts which had given "a sense of uncertainty to investors in terms of the credibility of the government", he said.

"You get FIPB approval to invest in India and to own a company, you get a licence to operate and, then three years later the same government... tells you that your licences are illegal and that you have lost everything.

"This leads to a great deal of uncertainty. Never before has India had that kind of image. So that really rattled me because then anything can happen," the Tata patriarch said.

India must give an "irreversible commitment" that law of the land has sanctity and the government approval cannot be taken lightly, he emphasised, adding "otherwise India would be taken lightly".

Despite being critical of the current situation, Tata sounded quite optimistic about the future of India as an economic power.