New Delhi:
The Goldman Sachs delegation is on a mission to charm corporate and political India. In a confidence building motion, the delegation met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh today, at his resident in Delhi, just a couple of days after holding their first ever board meeting in India on Thursday.
Goldman Sachs, which has been reeling under negative publicity, is trying to re-establish its reputation. After crucial meetings with business leaders like Laxmi Mittal and Mukesh Ambani on Friday, meeting the Prime Minister is a further step in the banking major reaffirming its commitment to India.
However it's likely that Goldman Sachs will also be putting some complaints on the table. With the Indian economy slowing down to 6.1 per cent and Goldman not having received its commercial banking licence despite applying two years ago, these issues are likely to be put on the table.
It is also likely that Goldman Sachs CEO Lloyd Blankfein will ask about the proposed tax law on offshore transactions with retrospective effect, emerging from the Vodafone Case, something he has already strongly criticised. The government has proposed to amend the Income Tax Act due to which Vodafone may have to pay Rs 11,000 crore in taxes on a 2007 acquisition in Hutch Essar.