Voices

``We decided to list our shares on the New York Stock Exchange as part of our strategic vision of being a leading telecom service company in the international segment.'' -- Mr. S. K. Gupta, VSNL Chairman and Managing Director.

``When they were small, it was easy to have rapid growth, but now that they are large, growth can progressively become more difficult. Of course, there will be some exceptional winners, but they will be fewer.'' -- Mr. Mark Mobius, Principal Portfolio Manager, Templeton India Growth Fund, on the IT sector companies.

``Good people are very hard to find these days, especially when you look for domain expertise. I feel the demand-supply is lop-sided.'' -- Mr. Arun Kumar, Chairman and Managing Director, Hughes Software.

``It is inconceivable that India, which aspires to pace its growth with that of information technology, should wait till 2004 for demonopolising VSNL, a crucial factor for attracting foreign investment, so needed for fuelling IT-led growth strategy.'' -- Prof. Jeffrey Sachs, Professor of International Trade, Harvard University.

``There are lobbies for and against import of used cars, so while we are lobbying through the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers to stop import of used vehicles. We are also getting ready to become competitive.'' -- Mr. Alan. E. Durante, Executive Director and President, Automotive Sector, Mahindra and Mahindra.

``Expected normal monsoon and good exports for the second year in succession will keep the industrial activity at 6 per cent and GDP growth at levels close to 6.5 per cent in fiscal year 2000-01.'' -- HSBC investment banker, commenting on the economy.

``I attribute our success on the retail front to the group's brand equity in retail markets, our extensive distribution network and the important role played by our key players.'' -- Mr. Milind Barve, Managing Director, HDFC Mutual Fund, on the success of the new mutual fund schemes.

``STD charges will fall. The first round of tariff re-balancing had an impact on us. In a competitive environment, this is expected. We will assess the situation before firming up any definitive proposal in association with foreign players.'' -- Mr. S. Sundaresan, Director (Finance), MTNL, on the opening up of long-distance telephony to the private sector.