While Bill Gates might have inspired Indian industrialists to professionally transfer their companies instead of letting their family inherit them, the Indian government may not have any fiscal incentive for them as of now.

Minister for corporate affairs Salman Khurshid told Governance Now, “If there are people who want to move to fully professionally managed companies, I see no reason why they should not be encouraged. But whether it should become a form of fiscal incentive, I am not sure if we can go that far.”

Khurshid said that apart from Gates’ personal preferences, the tax structure in the US also discourages people from passing on their fortunes to their children as the cost of transfer is very high. “That’s never been acceptable in our country. In our country, the model of family companies is considered to be very important,” he added.

The minister also said that India has a special family model which it should be proud of.

“It has got us a long way in terms of development,” he said, while adding, “now some of them (Indian companies) are professionalising their own family companies and family concerns.”

He said that he had seen the family constitutions running into hundreds of pages where family matters and related company matters are handled in parallel but not necessarily allowed to spill over into the other. “I think they seem to be working very well. I think this is an exciting area for Indian companies to explore,” Khurshid added.