Indian big businesses, such as the Adani Group and Reliance Industries Limited, are continuing to grow and acquire more assets, despite concerns about their debt.
Adani group has been able to persuade financial markets to lend it more money, notwithstanding assessments that it is over-dependent on debt
Reliance Industries Limited has announced the demerger of its financial services arm to establish a new entity, which media speculation sees as a bid by the group to establish a dominant presence in the financial services industry
Other business groups like the Tatas and the Aditya Birla empire are also performing well.
However, not all businesses in India are thriving.
Small- and medium-scale firms, as well as informal enterprises, are struggling to recover from the losses caused by COVID-19.
Concentration of assets among the top five business groups in non-financial sectors has increased significantly, while the share of the next five groups has declined.
Rapid industrial concentration can lead to stifled competition, profit inflation, extreme income inequality, and corporate influence over political processes.
Efforts to regulate and prevent the growth of dominant businesses or conglomerates are necessary, but implementing such policies depends on the influence of societal structures on the state.
The distance between the state and private capital has narrowed over time, and the state now promotes big business instead of regulating it.
Neoliberalism and the belief that the state should facilitate private capital growth have contributed to this shift.
Neoliberalism advocates for the unrestricted operation of markets, with minimal government intervention or regulation.
State policies aim to strengthen domestic big businesses and support their expansion globally, often through subsidies and transfers.
Money's influence in politics remains high, with political parties relying on support from big businesses for funding elections.
A few favored business groups are actively supported by the state in the name of promoting national interest, leading to concentration of wealth and economic power.
Dissent and resentment among various segments of society are suppressed by using state power, resulting in the relentless march towards extreme concentration of wealth and economic power.
COMMENTS