Postponed Till the Elections

To repeat, however, how much of it is bravado and posturing and how much genuine rethinking and a new resolve? The Food Minister talks about slashing down PL 480 imports next year by half. The Planning Commission has been toying with the idea of an alternative Plan without foreign aid. The situation is by no means desperate. There is enough aid pledged and committed and in the pipeline to give the economy the much needed push towards self-sufficiency, provided intelligent and purposeful efforts are made to utilise the potential capacity in the country, in- Birlas Expand by Take-Overs DU PONT rose to power on gunpowder, picking up chemicals and General Motors on the way. No such royal road to dizzy economic heights is conceivable in the subtle complexities of industrial development in India. But Hinduism has always recognised the possibility and sanctity of many paths to ultimate reality and truth. So there should be no surprise (or anxiety) when the Birlas ride to glory on planning for a socialist pattern of society. They had more than 300 companies in 1957, ranging from banking, insurance and investment to cotton, sugar, jute, paper, cement, engineering, rayon, tools, non-ferrous metals, tea. processed food, asbestos, plastics, and trade. In 1957 the foreign exchange crisis brought out the yawning gaps in the industrial structure and the country set itself the task of filling them. The Birlas have not spared themselves in this honourable labour. Aluminium, pig iron, shipping, heavy engineering and alloy steels have been added to the roll of Birla interests.