Ratan Tata hopes entrepreneurs will create new benchmarks of tomorrow

Veteran industrialist Ratan Tata (pictured) on Monday said the coronavirus pandemic will force entrepreneurs to adapt, create and find ways to enable new or modified enterprises that would be benchmarks of tomorrow.
 

While seeking not to “downplay the challenges and the difficulties embedded in these current times” the Chairman Emeritus of Tata Sons — the holding firm of Tata Group said, “it can all start on a clean sheet of paper that looks at ways of doing things that were never thought of before.”
 

In a post on social media platform Instagram, Tata hoped that entrepreneurs will find a better way to run their operations following the pandemic that has severely disrupted economic activity.

“In past difficult times, entrepreneurs have displayed farsightedness and creativity that could not have been believed to exist. These became the flagpoles of innovation and new technology today. I hope that the ability to find another way to build a product, run a company, run operations a better way, will emerge as an outcome of the current crisis,” he said.
 

Tata, who was the chairman of Tata Sons from 1991 till his retirement on December 28, 2012, further said, “I won’t downplay the challenges and the difficulties embedded in these current times. But my confidence remains high in the inventive nature and the creativity entrepreneurs today who will find ways to enable new or modified enterprises that would be benchmarks of tomorrow”.

“This crisis will force entrepreneurs to adapt and create,” said Tata, who has been actively investing in several startups after his retirement.

India would be risking economic hara-kiri if lockdown extended for much longer, says Mahindra
 

Industrialist Anand Mahindra on Monday said that if lockdown is extended for much longer duration then the country will be “risking economic hara-kiri”. The Mahindra Group chairman said that while the lockdown has been able to save lakhs of lives, its further extension could lead to severe difficulties for weaker sections of the society.
 

“The number of new cases has risen, despite flattening the previous few days. With higher testing, a continuing rise is inevitable given the low absolute number of cases relative to our population & the rest of the world. We shouldn't expect a swift flattening of the curve,” Mahindra said in a tweet.
 

But this doesn't mean the lockdown hasn't helped, he added.