Competitiveness, not protectionism, is the key to our future: Uday Kotak

Kotak, who is now 65, stepped down as the managing director of Kotak Mahindra Bank a year ago. In a career spanning nearly four decades, Kotak managed to build a financial conglomerate with total assets worth ₹6.2 trillion, spanning across banking, mutual funds, insurance, stock broking, car finance, investment banking, private equity, and alternative assets. While he avoids all questions on banking, since he is currently serving as the non-executive director on the bank’s board, Kotak is all eager to share his views on privatisation, getting animal spirits back into the economy, risk of over-regulation and Starlink’s entry into the Indian telecom sector. I think there are many Indian companies which have the ability to become global consumer brands. I would say that increasing tax rates for corporates at this stage would be a very wrong signal to bring animal spirits back.