Minister of Trade Paula Gopee-Scoon has defended the Prime Minister and well-known Indian businessman and political figure, Naveen Jindal, describing the controversy surrounding his visit to the Prime Minister as “hullabaloo.”
Speaking during a media conference introducing several delegates from the Haryana State Co-operative Supply and Marketing Federation (Hafed), Gopee-Scoon said the Opposition was seeking to make mayhem over Jindal’s visit, when he could be pivotal in bringing foreign direct investment to Trinidad and Tobago.
“It tells you that instead of welcoming people into our country, the Opposition is seeking to destroy,” she said.
“The Jindal family… they are business people of the highest order. Mr Jindal was also involved in politics… these are people of high esteem, and we really want to speak to the good of them.”
According to a biography on oneindia.com, Naveen Jindal, 54, is the youngest son of industrialist Om Prakash Jindal, who commissioned a pipe unit, Jindal India Ltd in 1964, then, in 1969 commissioned a large factory under the name Jindal Strips Ltd.
Jindal, a native of Haryana, is the chairman of Jindal Steel and Power Ltd. He is known for his advocacy for women empowerment, and in 2009 founded OP Jindal Global University, a non-profit, multi-disciplinary and research oriented university in memory of his father.
In 2006 he was recognised by the World Economic Forum, when he was ranked among the top 25 Indians on its annual list of 250 global young leaders.
He also had a significant political career representing the Kurukshetra constituency in Haryana in the Lok Sabha (lower house) for two terms, spanning from 2004-2014. Earlier this month he was re-elected as an MP in Kurukshetra under President Modi's Indian People's Party.
Jindal was charged in 2013 by India’s Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) under allegations of cheating and graft in a probe against the improper allocation of coal mines. He was booked for what the CBI claims were kickbacks paid to him for being granted mining rights for coal.
The charges according to a 2013 Forbes report came after investigations in 2012 revealed that 155 coal acreages were allocated without auction, resulting in windfall gains. Jindial Steel and Power was among companies named as having secured benefits estimated at over US$4 billion.
Still, Gopee-Scoon said in relation to the charges that legal challenges were a part of the nature of business.
“Now and of course in business you would have challenges – legal challenges – but that's the nature of business,” she said. “You enter into contractual arrangements, drafting arrangements, and not necessarily all smooth...
“So therefore, to assign that level of attention on one minor issue is really a wonder to us.”
High Commissioner of TT to the Republic of India Dr Roger Gopaul said the Prime Minister’s visit to India in May was an effort to engage with the business community at large, reaching out to a variety of sectors in which TT could invite foreign direct investment.
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