A can of worms seems to have opened up on social media as people feel flabbergasted after Union Commerce and Industry Minister Piyush Goyal made remarks on the Indian industry on Thursday, especially Tata Motors.

A rather serious and upsetting remark which was casually hurled at the Indian industry by the Union Minister insisted that the industries in our country were 'not working in the interest of the nation and were simply going against India'. 

© Reuters

In his statement at the annual meet of the Confederation of India Industry, Piyush Goyal specifically came after Tata Group and called it out for infrastructure, defence and aerospace. 

He said, “Me, Myself, My company — We all need to go beyond this approach.”

Furthermore, to this, he remarked, “Kya aapke jaisi company, ek do aapne shaayad koi videshi company kharid li… Uska importance zyaada ho gaya, desh hith kam ho gaya? (A company like yours, maybe you bought one or two foreign companies, now their importance is greater than national interest?” leaving most of the CEOs confused and riled up.  

Piyush Goyal's 19-min tirade against Tata group at the annual meet of the CII stirred up a hornets’ nest in higher echelons of the govt. the CII was asked to pull down the video from its YouTube channel. @tragicosmicomic reportshttps://t.co/zTLctUagJP

— Sobhana K Nair (@SobhanaNair) August 14, 2021

While the Tata Group refused to comment on the remarks by Union Minister Piyush Goyal, only a day prior to Goyal’s accusations did Tata announce its intention to give each Olympian who could not get a podium finish, a car.  

A sweet and generous gesture for those who missed the bronze medal by just an inch, Tata Group’s felicitation was very warmly received on social media. 

And on the other hand, what wasn’t pleasantly received were the comments by Piyush Goyal which were equated to an ‘unhinged rant’. A lot of business professionals, industrialists and even fellow politicians came together to slam the statements. 

Here are some of the reactions on Twitter - 

Union Minister’s unhinged rant at CII meeting.

Pressure of working in an underperforming one man show must really be getting to them ! https://t.co/jj4Wzptz6V

— Mahua Moitra (@MahuaMoitra) August 14, 2021

An unprovoked 19-minute tirade by Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal at the Confederation of Indian Industry asserting industry went against national interest left CEOs baffled. Parts of the video were taken down. The Hindu has a recording of his remarks.https://t.co/8CmVQVg2iK

— Ananth Krishnan (@ananthkrishnan) August 14, 2021

You reap what you sow INDIA INC

Bombay Club 1.0 created NDA/BJP Govt between 2012-2014.

Threw collective weight behind one individual and not even one party.
&
now @PiyushGoyal terms them anti - national.

@FollowCII https://t.co/HkVzvVROAE

— Manish Tewari (@ManishTewari) August 14, 2021

Clearly Indian industry wasn’t anti national when it was buying Piyush Goyal’s firm at nearly 1000 times face value. Time for them to start doing business again with the minister and his family to earn the nationalist tag!https://t.co/n21mtPBY3X

— Rohini Singh (@rohini_sgh) August 14, 2021

Piyush ‘Piramal’ Goyal lashes out at Indian industry and says they are against national interest. Targets the Tata group and raises eyebrows. The irony of it all. https://t.co/oU3lynmuqv

— Rohini Singh (@rohini_sgh) August 14, 2021

The kind of language used against industry captains&calling their work against nation’s interest is shameful to the core&he is India’s Commerce Minister!
CII should demand an apology instead of helping him by pulling down the video. Stand up to bullying! https://t.co/dPblCaBrmG

— Priyanka Chaturvedi (@priyankac19) August 14, 2021

On one hand BJP Govt has given contract to build New Parliament of India to Tatas and on the other hand BJP Minister Piyush Goyal (as per media reports) is calling them Anti-National BJP double speak knows no limits !!

— Jaiveer Shergill (@JaiveerShergill) August 14, 2021

On one hand BJP Govt has given contract to build New Parliament of India to Tatas and on the other hand BJP Minister Piyush Goyal (as per media reports) is calling them Anti-National BJP double speak knows no limits !!

— Jaiveer Shergill (@JaiveerShergill) August 14, 2021

As people come together to fend off the allegations against the Tata group and the Indian industry as a whole, on which side of the debate do you find yourself?

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