|
From
1983 to 1997, I was closely associated with the
automotive industry of Japan. It was the time
when Japanese automotive industry was showing
interest to come in big way in India. Toyota,
Nissan, Mazda, Mitsubishi, and Isuzu, beside the
only successful enterprise of Suzuki
collaborated with some Indian partners. Most of
the collaborations were limited to technical
assistance with very little equity
participation. They didn’t find the overall
economic atmosphere conducive to go ahead in big
way. I remember the red tape in bureaucracy, and
the type of licenses and clearances required for
every thing. Once, while in Delhi, some of the
Japanese friends wanted to have some Japanese
food. I couldn’t find any restaurant anywhere. I
could very well understand and appreciate the
need of food of your own land when you are in a
foreign land. We were lucky that in Japan we
could get an Indian restaurant almost
everywhere. Even that small town Hokke Club
Hotel in Kawasaki had an Indian restaurant in
its basement.
Last week, I was reading a similar story about
the China that shows why we failed to attract
the manufacturing biggies of Japan whereas the
Chinese have succeeded in getting all the big
names in every sector from all over the world
including India.
Back in 2002, Girija Pande, Asia Pacific Head,
TCS (Tata Consultancy Services), used to fly
down to Hangzhou province in China from his
Singapore office every weekend. He was on a
mission to find a site for the company’s third
development center after Shanghai and Beijing.
Every time he visited the province, the mayor
welcomed him. During one of his casual
exchanges, Pande remarked that the lack of a
good vegetarian restaurant would disappoint the
mostly South Indian project managers of TCS.
When he visited the province for the fourth
time, the mayor took him to a spanking new
vegetarian restaurant promoted by the state
government. This is the Chinese hospitality
towards foreign investors.
With all these inputs from the India Inc
available and known to the ministers and
bureaucracy, why can’t they change if they want
FDI to come in a big way? Why are they happy
with Mauritius being the biggest FDI country for
India? Why can’t Manmohan Singh’s government
bring changes in qualitative and quantitative
term? Don’t they know that it takes 71 days to
start business in India when for China it is 48;
it takes 67 days for registering property in
India when in China it takes 32; it takes 90
days to arrange funds in India when it takes 40
days in China; and it takes 10 days in resolving
insolvency in India when it can be done in 2.4
days in China? I remember the years it took to
finalise funding by bankers when I was working
with the projects of HM in which Isuzu trucks
were to be produced at Vadodara. By the time we
started because of the changes in yen and dollar
exchange rates, the project became unviable.
Even today, our efficiency is doubted. With all
the media reporting of improved attractiveness
for investment, India hardly gets the
respectable share of FDI.
With the Great Trinity of Manmohan Singh, Montek
Singh, and P. Chidambaram at the head of the
country, we expect at least these procedural
bottlenecks resolved, if not any other human
values related things such as built-in
hospitality.
|
Comments: |
Dear Indra jee,
I agree with your arguments with few
reservations.
Yes, you are right when you talked
about hospitality and importance of
home food in foreign land. This
argument is only for the feel good
factor for investors and may be one
of the factors for the low turnout
of foreign investments in India. It
cannot be major reason.
In India also you will get foreign
restaurants.
In Chennai where Daewoo has a plant,
they have got a restaurant. In
Bangalore, you may get restaurants
from many countries. In Delhi and
Mumbai, there are plenty of
restaurants for foreign nationals. I
don't think govt can do all the
works of opening hotels for a few
people.
In Gunsan, Korea TATA has taken over
Daewoo, many employees have come
from India and used to come
regularly in a team from Jamshedpur.
They are hundred in numbers or more
than that. Employees get Indian food
only at company premises.
In the same way, Samsung has got a
large number of employees from India
and also from SISO, Bangalore and
Samsung Electronics, NOIDA. Large
number of employees used to visit in
a team. They also can enjoy Indian
food at company premises.
There are Indian hotels and
restaurants but only in Seoul. One
Indian restaurant is now going to
open their branch in Daejoen where
we live because of the increasing
Indian, Pakistani and Bangladeshi
population. And this also is being
done by private investors, a group
of Chakra hotel owned by
Chennai-based businessmen settled at
Seoul.
Korean govt doesn't take any step
for opening any Indian restaurants
even though large Indian population
is day by day increasing here at
Korea. Indian IT firms and IT
engineers are doing very well for
the development of Korean economy.
I mean to say, this extra
hospitality has been done by Chinese
govt because they want to lure
Indian businessmen for starting IT
firm in China and taking advantage
from that under the condition that
many Indians will visit that place
where TCS started their operation.
This is just one example.
Certainly Indian govt can also do
that but that also depend on case by
case basis, not always for each and
every company cause.
For the less turnout of the
Investors in India, there are many
other reasons.
In India, we still don't have enough
infrastructure for the development
of an R&D center. Bangalore is the
heart of IT as pronounced by the
Indian and state govt but if you go
to Bangalore, you will notice that
the whole city has become standstill
because of the growing population
and poor road and other
infrastructural facilities.
Industries should shift towards
Delhi (NCR region), Mumbai, Chennai,
Kolkata, Pune, Chandigarh,
Hyderabad, Ahmedabad where these
difficulties are comparatively less.
In whole India, we have a lack of
infrastructure. In Delhi, there is
power cut at least once in a day in
hot seasons. In rainy and winter
seasons also, we have power cuts.
Roads are still not up to the mark.
Only main roads are looking good and
in good condition but when you enter
inside the city on the link roads,
condition is pathetic everywhere in
India. Just after rain, water
logging starts and then starts many
types of health problems.
But in foreign countries, that is
reverse. I have never seen power cut
in my two years in Korea. Roads are
6 lanes, there is no traffic jam.
All the cities are connected by
expressways. We have expressways
only between Pune-Mumbai, Delhi-Noida,
Jaipur-Delhi and few more areas.
Yes there is still "babudom" in
central as well as state govt but
for the opening of the firms govt
has eased rules and regulations
after 1990 thereby getting good
responses from private investors
from all over the world.
China has grown well and given more
attention to its infrastructure.
Mauritius and other nearby countries
have invested more in roads,
electricity, water and other
infrastructural facility.
In my view, India has to improve its
infrastructural facilities first.
Then and then only we can expect
heavy investment from across the
border. - Bibhuti Bikramaditya,
Daejeon, S.Korea - June 15, 2006 |
|
Discussion on this topic is now
closed. |
Return to previous Page |
