Industrialist Ratan Tata and Planning Commission deputy chairman Montek Singh Ahluwalia at the CII meet. Picture by Prem Singh

New Delhi, May 24: The Prime Minister today told corporate India to shun greed, graft and glitzy lifestyles and share the gains of economic growth with the man in the street.

The “wasteful” displays of the “rich and the famous”, while business cartels kept prices beyond the poor’s reach, could lead to social unrest, Manmohan Singh told the Confederation of Indian Industry.

“The operation of cartels by groups of companies to keep prices high must end. It is unacceptable to obstruct the forces of competition from having freer play,” Singh said at a time inflation has been the highest in several years.

“It is even more distressing in a country where the poor are severely affected by rising commodity prices…. Even profit maximisation should be within the bounds of decency and greed.”

Singh, who counts “inclusive growth” as a priority in the remaining two years of his government’s term, asked business leaders for help to create a more humane society. He suggested a 10-point social charter for industry.

Companies, he said, must stop paying promoters and senior executives too much. “Rising income and wealth inequalities, if not matched by a corresponding rise of incomes across the nation, can lead to social unrest.”

The Prime Minister advised industry to create jobs and the chamber to develop “codes of conduct” to fight corruption, saying many companies had achieved success while shunning corrupt business practices.

“When I read about the growing number of Indian millionaires and billionaires, about the companies buying up multinationals, about our clogged airports, about the real-estate boom, about new holiday destinations, about soaring CEO compensations, I know that you have benefited from the growth process,” Singh, the architect of that growth, said.

Now it was time to look at the needs of the common man.

“Corporate social responsibility must not be defined by tax-planning strategies alone. Rather, it should be defined within the framework of a corporate philosophy which factors the needs of the community and the regions in which the corporate entity functions. This is where I look to (the) CII for leadership.”

The Prime Minister welcomed the CII’s report on affirmative action, which spoke of a consensus among companies to train people from the weaker sections and help them get jobs.

Companies must give more jobs to the Scheduled Castes, Scheduled Tribes, Other Backward Classes, minorities and women, he said. They must be sensitive to the requirements of the physically challenged.

“I am aware that some of our companies are doing creditable work. I compliment them. But we need more such inspiring examples,” Singh said. “I look forward to credible results at an early date.”