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Sanjiv Goenka Exclusive | "He's The Best PM" | How PM's Governance Is Transforming India | Watch
In an exclusive conversation with Rahul Shivshankar, industrialist Sanjiv Goenka shared his views on India's growth story, governance reforms and Prime Minister Narendra Modi's leadership.
Goenka praised the BJP government's disciplined approach to governance and highlighted the transformation witnessed in states like Uttar Pradesh over the past decade. He also expressed confidence in India's long-term economic trajectory and the country's ambition of becoming one of the world's leading economies by 2047.
The discussion touched upon governance, infrastructure, investment climate, industrial...
About Sanjiv Goenka
Sanjiv Goenka, chairman of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group, has been active in public commentary on politics, business, and sports. Following the BJP's victory in the 2026 West Bengal assembly elections, Goenka expressed confidence in the new state government, stating that the BJP has a "track record of success in every state that they have governed" and that he expects to see the same in Bengal. He called for policy consistency and the scrapping of what he described as "archaic laws" such as the urban land ceiling act, which he said does not exist in any other part of the country. Goenka also said that investing in Bengal had previously been an "emotional call" but that with a BJP government, "emotion turns into emotion plus confidence." On national affairs, Goenka praised Prime Minister Narendra Modi's governance, calling him "by lengths the best prime minister that India has had" and stating that "Modi hai to mumkin hai" is a sentiment shared by Indian industry. He expressed confidence in India's long-term economic trajectory, predicting the country could become "one or two in the world" by 2047. Addressing the impact of the Iran-US war, Goenka acknowledged short-term challenges for fuel-dependent businesses but said the group is proceeding with approximately ₹72,000 crore in projects across multiple states, though he noted the war may delay their target by a year. In sports, Goenka discussed his ownership of the Lucknow Super Giants IPL team and Mohun Bagan football club, describing himself as a "convenient punching bag" on social media and stating that he does not give cricketing lessons to experts.
Transcript (17 segments)
✨ AI-enhanced transcript with speaker attribution
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Rahul0:01
Viewers, in our continued series on talking to the movers and shakers of India, on this landmark that the Prime Minister has notched up 12 unbroken years as Prime Minister, setting a new record in office. As you know, viewers, the last person to have been elected as Prime Minister and held on to the office for as long was India's first Prime Minister, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru. But now the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi, has broken that record. And of course, there are still two and a half, three years to go in his third term, so he will have outdone Mr. Nehru by quite a margin. But fundamentally, viewers, we're going to be speaking now with Mr. Sanjiv Goenka, who's the chairman of the RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group. He needs no introduction. One of India's foremost businessmen, an individual with diverse business holdings across many different verticals. Thank you so much, Mr. Goenka. I know you're taking time out. You're speaking from overseas, and that's what explains the light and shadow play that we're going to see. You're of course sitting in the beautiful sunlight of some absolute paradise. I'm here in this rather dark studio, but it's great to be speaking with you, Mr. Goenka. Thank you very much for taking the time out. Look, the Prime Minister has completed 12 years in office. What do you believe has been the single most transformative economic reform of this period?
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Sanjiv Goenka1:50
Thank you, Rahul, for having me on the show. And let me begin by saying that he is not only the longest-serving Prime Minister for India, he is by lengths the best Prime Minister that India has had. And he is somebody who's transformed India by thought, by action, and by policy. It began with reaching out to the Aam Janata, the common man, with the Har Jal, the Har Ghar, and many schemes like this, where he gave comfort and a sense of dignity to every Indian who was deprived. He gave Indians a respect in the world that we had never seen before. Today, India and Indians are viewed with great respect across every part of the world, and that is thanks to Prime Minister Modi. India today has a voice in every major global decision. That is thanks to Mr. Modi. India thinks scale. That is thanks to Mr. Modi. India thinks of leading the world. That is thanks to Mr. Modi. So if you ask me to list the most transformative, I think there have been several most transformative policies, ideas, thoughts that he has done.
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Rahul3:47
Let me ask you more specifically, Mr. Goenka. Many people have said that the government was formed on the promise that it will deliver more governance, less government, and that was the promise that Prime Minister Modi made. However, the welfare state has expanded quite a bit. Government is occupying a bigger space, some people would say, in our lives than it did earlier. Is that a problem? Number one. Number two, or let me not call it a problem, but is that a sort of revision of the original idea? And secondly, many people also say that private business would have come to the party, this transformative party, with greater enthusiasm if red tape and regulatory framework, or at least the landscape of regulations, had been nipped a little bit. We have a huge plethora, for example, to set up factories in India, enterprises, hurdles. Would you agree with this?
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Sanjiv Goenka4:54
No, I think the confidence that India Inc. has today and Global Inc. has on India has never happened before. Look at the scale of investments. Look at the breadth and depth of investments. Look at the range of industries and sectors across which investments are happening. I think it was inconceivable 10, 12, 15 years ago, and it just keeps increasing. And you're seeing investments on the ground. We just heard of a three lakh crore investment on a data center a couple of days ago. Now, so this is international investment, right? You keep hearing of investments from India Inc., and nobody talks of less than 10,000 crores. So it's 1 lakh crore, 50,000 crores, 2 lakh crores, 3 lakh crores, depending upon the size of the balance sheet, and everyone's investing. So it's a confidence on the policies of the Modi government, or on Mr. Modi himself, and this belief that Modi, you know, this confidence in the leader is very important. The security of the investment, the security or the sanctity of continuity and consistency is very important. So I think I can, speaking for India Inc., I can say we have never been more confident of investing than we are today.
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Rahul6:39
This is very interesting because I have some statistics which seem to suggest that though the Modi government has pushed manufacturing through initiatives such as Make in India and PLI schemes that you know are well known, there hasn't been much of an uptick in manufacturing. If you look at the record from 2012 onwards to now, it's remained, manufacturing as a share of GDP has remained around 14-15% at the highest and around 13%. So it hasn't really, you know, become this manufacturing powerhouse that we were expecting. Why do you think this is the issue, or are we looking at statistics the wrong way?
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Sanjiv Goenka7:20
I think they're looking at statistics the wrong way because you're looking at it as a percent of GDP, and GDP itself has grown several times. So every sector has grown, services have grown, manufacturing has grown, and the GDP itself is something that was inconceivable when Modi came to power. And I think it's growing every day. And investments don't happen overnight. They take three, four years to fruition. Then they take another couple of years before they get to capacity. So you're looking at a lead period of about five to six years from conception to complete implementation.
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Rahul8:10
If you were somebody who was going to advise the Prime Minister on ensuring that the climate for private capital is much more attractive, what are the two or three regulatory policy bottlenecks that you would say we could relook at, we could sort of take away from the table?
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Sanjiv Goenka8:36
You know, Rahul, honestly, always you say 'manga dil mang more', but at this point in time, I don't think there is that much more that India Inc. could ask from the government.
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Rahul8:51
So let me ask you, GST, despite initial disruption, is now seen as a landmark reform. What remains unfinished in India's indirect tax architecture? If I were to ask you that question, would you have a view?
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Sanjiv Goenka9:05
You know, frankly, I don't have a specific view on this, but I do believe that the more states that are coming under BJP rule and are getting aligned with the national policy and the national interest, the more those states are developing. And this is borne out across different states where the opposition ruled and now BJP has come to power. And because there is alignment of the state and the central government on national policy, you see progress.
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Rahul9:47
You are a Bengal-based industrialist. Kolkata is the nerve center of your operations. There's been a change in government. You were talking about the fact that those states that are aligned. Do you think that that's what really held Bengal back? Do you think that now that the BJP is going to be running Bengal, things will improve dramatically? What's your take on this?
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Sanjiv Goenka10:11
Well, already in the four or five weeks that BJP has been in power, you've heard of several investments from railways to roads to infrastructure. I mean, it's just been a few weeks. We hadn't heard of these in the last 49 years between the CPM and the Trinamool rule. And you're seeing a vision that is aligned with the national vision, that is one of scale, that is one of infrastructure development, that is one of growth. And I mean, from a very, very narrow perspective of Bengal, I think Bengal has great days coming in now that BJP is in power.
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Rahul10:56
Let me ask you this, sir. The RP-Sanjiv Goenka Group has also, of course, expanded its footprint. It's happened, of course, with also the BJP, not that I'm saying that you're aligned, but the BJP expanding its own footprint. Is it because the BJP, and I'm talking about other groups also, we have now several unicorns, startups, this, that, the other. Is there a definitive, do you believe, ideological difference between the way the BJP governs and looks at business than perhaps previous regimes, previous governments?
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Sanjiv Goenka11:35
You know, I'm not somebody who likes to compare, but I think Narendra Modi stands out in the sheer scale of his vision, in his ability to implement what he conceives. And BJP being a disciplined party, the entire party follows that one vision, and therefore there is alignment. When you are in an opposition-ruled state, they oppose for the sake of opposing. So if the center articulates a regulation or a law, they very often just oppose it because they are in opposition. They want to oppose, not because they believe the merits are wrong. And I think those kind of things stop. I mean, look at UP and look at the transformation that UP has had. I mean, I could go on. In every state that BJP has assumed power, there have been investments, there has been confidence. And this is because there is a central administration, there is a governance system, there is a policy, there is a hierarchy that is in place.
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Rahul12:54
Let me ask you finally, sir. Looking ahead to Viksit Bharat 2047, a very important goal. What are the three economic priorities that the Modi government must embrace to ensure that we realize our potential?
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Sanjiv Goenka13:11
You know, frankly, if I had to sort of say that by 2047, where we could be, I certainly believe we'll be either one or two in the world. And again, the longer that Modi is in the chair, the better it is for India and Indians.
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Rahul13:35
Well, that's very interesting. Thank you very much, Sanjiv Goenka. Thank you very much for speaking with me. Always a pleasure, of course. Thank you very much, viewers. You're getting an undiluted view from industry on this panel. We're going to be, of course, speaking with other stakeholders. Thank you very much.