NR Narayana Murthy, who will be retiring on August 20, shared his thoughts on his journey, the new chairman, corruption and Indian companies in an exclusive interview . Excerpts:

Getting back Nandan Nilekani was also a point of discussion by the nomination committee?

First of all, the deliberations of the nomination committee are not open for discussions. Second, I was not part of the nomination committee. I do not know who they considered. So, I cannot comment.

Was KV Kamath made the chairman of Infosys because he is an iconic figure in the banking sector, from which Infosys gets about 40 per cent of revenue. Can we expect more growth in this vertical with his presence?

I think, Kamath was chosen as the chairman not because of BFSI, as pointed out by Jeff Lehman. Even if he was from any industry, he would have been as wonderful a company leader as he has been in the banking sector. I do not think the committee considered that he is from BFSI. He is an extraordinary leader and, therefore, which industry he came from did not matter.

Can you share with us your impression about Kamath?

When I was on the board of ICICI, he made a presentation on how he plans to trans form ICICI from a development financing institution to a universal bank, and he achieved it. This is one of the extraordinary achievements I have seen in corporate India and it meant a lot of risk taking, doing business boldly, visionary thinking, focus on execution and Kamath demonstrated that he was second to none in achieving that.

How is your son and what are his plans?

My son has completed his PhD in computer science from Harvard University and he has not yet decided what he will do, whether he will be an academia or entrepreneur, whether he will be in the US or India. So, I cannot comment on his plans.

On Saturday, during the press meet, Mohandas Pai seemed to be very uncomfortable. Given his contribution, did Infosys try to retain him?

Mohandas Pai has added significant value to the company and has been an important player. There is no doubt at all. Everybody would have been thrilled to have him continue. But, he has larger dreams. Just like Nandan Nilekani went and joined the government, Pai wants to make a difference in higher education.

Despite a heavy cash pile, Infosys has been conservative in terms of acquisition.

Regarding acquisitions, we have a clear set of rules. We want complementary strengths to come, minimum overlap customers, similar value system, a possibility of improving net income margin by offshoring some of the functions. We want the founders of those companies to accept performance based pay. If these things are all acceptable, we will be very happy.

There are many ex-employees, who appreciate Infosys for the opportunity and knowledge it gave them, but say that there is lot of politics in mid-level management.

Whenever I receive any complaints, I get it thoroughly investigated. Let me tell you, out of 100 complaints, 99 have no basis.

That fellow would have some disciplinary issues, he would not have come to the office, fudged his bill, customers would have been unhappy, but he puts the blame on boss. I have lost faith in these kinds of complaints. I only hope that our youngsters will stick to facts and data and raise issues.



What is the rationale behind dropping `Technologies' from the company name?

We do lot of business value addition, business consulting, transformational projects and BPO works. Therefore, we felt that using `Technologies' may be unfair to what we do. Therefore, we felt that we have to get a more omnibus title. Once upon a time, Apple was called Apple Computers or something, now it is just Apple!

When Catamaran Investment was started it was viewed as an initiative to support young and budding entrepreneurs.

I would say that, we would support as many merited entrepreneurs as possible and we have supported a certain number of very bright, smart, early stage entrepreneurs. I do not want media to put pressure on them as what they have done, and what they have not done.

Do you think the nexus between Indian companies and politicos has gone very deep? Is there a situation where there should be dilution of ethics and principles d to be successful in the corporate world?

e Our own experience has been that there are lots of very honest and dynamic politit cians, bureaucrats. We have not had a sin , gle case when we had to do anything uneth . ical. Therefore, personally I feel, it is not y fair to say that you would need to be dishon est to succeed in business in India.

e n Some of the names that are surfacing in scams have shocked even a common man l who had great respect for such companies.

Given that I travel so much outside India, and given that I am not glued into what is g happening in corporate India, it is not fair on my part to comment on issues over which I do not have much expertise.

s This is regarding Rashid Hussain who e was accused in the Jaipur blast.

A special a court in Jaipur has directed Infosys to rein state him and pay his salary for the last three years. Would Infosys take him back?You will have to talk to Ramadas Kamath, SVP , Infrastructure and Security, who would give more details on this. All that I t can say is -this company has been nev er, ever been unfair to any employee. We s have never considered any criterion other e than merit and therefore, to my underr standing, there must have been a valid reason for us to demand the resignation of the employee.