The Bjps Primary Issue

When the Bharatiya Janata Party assumes power, two items will be high on its economic and political agendas. On the political front, the party has to live up to its Ram Mandir promise and actually build the temple "�"� or at least, get the construction started before it is finishes its term in office.

On the economic front, the BJP has to get the country started down the road of high economic growth. Apart from the high interest rates (which should be rolled back by the RBI governor once there is a government in place and FII dollars stream in), the main problem has been the dismal state of the capital markets.

 

While sentiment in the secondary market may have changed, the primary market continues to bear the look of an 18th century abandoned village.

The BJP has an unlikely opportunity to get both things done. All it has to do is to float a huge capital offering in the primary market and use the proceeds to build a Ram temple. By killing two birds with the proverbial single stone, the BJP can, not only keep its long-time promise to its supporters and build a spanking new temple replete with gleaming idols, marble floors, beggars and Brahmin touts, but can also use it to push the growth curve of the Indian economy beyond the Hindu rate.

The idea is simple as it is workable. The BJP needs to float a company "�"� Ram Corp "�"� promoted by some committed promoters (the RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad come to mind immediately.) Then, with the help of some swadeshi merchant bankers, the promoters can proceed to sort out the mechanics of the project. The EPC (equipment procurement and construction) contract can be given to the Bajrang Dal, which always has one foot forward to build the temple, though the loss of its CEO, Vinay Katiyar, may slow them down somewhat.

However, the new Ram Corp has also got to track down the monies collected in phase I of the project in the early nineties when rath yatras (read: roadshows) collected few rupees from brave Hindu venture capitalists across India who were unafraid to sink their money into a project at the very early stages.

These venturers have to be given some benefit for their long association to the project and thus a portion of the shares should be issued on a rights basis to these early bird investors. After all, without their help and enthusiasm, the mosque may never have been broken.

This phase I financing can also be used to attract more investors to the temple project at a hefty premium. Not only will more people be willing to invest in a project where construction has already started but knowing Hindu guilt, it is also safe to assume that Hindu punters will not hesitate to pay a premium on their shares if they think that God will bless them all the more for this good deed. Regular dividends from God, recessions or otherwise, is a great incentive for all Hindu investors.

But the temple public issue need not cater to Hindus only. The BJP can use it in other ways as well. For instance, one of its major gripes is the way in which other religions aggressively go around the country converting people to their own faith. Now the BJP has a powerful weapon to combat this.

It can use the public issue to structure a special instrument for the minorities. This should be in the form of convertible debentures which can be converted into equity shares at a discount to the prevailing market price. However, the minorities will only get the benefits of this capital gain only when the debenture holder converts to Hinduism. Thus, Hinduism will become attractive to all those oppressed and looking to better their lives and opportunities.

While foreign money from non-resident Hindus can also be tapped for this project, there are doubts that as a pre-condition for investing, NRIs would want resort-like townships built near the temple site, and that may not be quite possible.

A better bet would be to involve the non-resident Indians for the more ambitious temple acquisition programme which the BJPs holding company, the VHP, has drawn up. This is important since the Indian banking system is yet to allow financing for mergers and takeovers. In such a scenario, NRIs who have long been used to building new temples or even taking over churches in the UK and the US, will be crucial to finding funds for these acquisitions.

Another beneficial impact of this would be that our external balance on the balance of payments position would turn positive given the huge inflow of dollars and the countrys foreign exchange problems would be solved. Unlike money from foreign institutional investors, which is hot and flees at the first sign of slowdown and uncertainty, NRI investments in temple acquisition funds can only be termed long term.

After all God is not something Hindu investors can easily divest from.