Murthy, Premji express anguish over policy paralysis

Top business leader N R Narayana Murthy, co-founder of home-grown global IT giant Infosys, has said, "Over the past 3-4 months, India's image seems to have suffered. As an Indian, I feel very sad that we have come to this state."

Another IT major Wipro's Chairman Azim Premji has said that "we are working without a leader as a country. If we do not change, we would be down for years."

The comments from the two leaders come amid warning from the global agency Standard and Poor's that India risks losing its 'investment grade' rating due to "slowing GDP growth and political roadblocks to economic policy making".

In an interview published by global investment banking giant Morgan Stanley on Monday, Murthy also said that India was suffering from challenges that were self-inflicted.

"Unfortunately, we have created these challenges ourselves. It is self-inflicted. There is nothing coming from outside. The good news is we can correct it. We have done enough damage but could end up doing more damage," he said.

Premji also made his comments during a conference call with equity analysts on Monday -- also the day when S&P warned of downgrading India's rating to junk status.

While the government has already rejected the concerns raised by S&P, Congress MP Mani Shankar Aiyar today said Premji and others are "representing a class interest and the Government of India represents a national interest".

He further said these are the same people who were praising the same leadership and because they have some problems now that they have "started screaming to the skies". MORE