The Southern Surge

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What’s common between IT majors Infosys, Wipro, Satyam, pharma gaints Dr Reddy’s, Aurobindo Pharma, private airlines Air Deccan, Kingfisher and Paramount and GVK, GMR? Well, they are all from south India. While some of them are better known, many have been and still are a faint blip on the national business radar. But as they are making an impact in diverse sectors like aviation, auto industry, IT and ITeS, pharma and biotech and infrastructure, they are demanding their rightful place. Satya Naagesh Ayyagary traces the growth and spread of this new phenomenon

For long, Indian business was primarily Bombay-centric and then some in Gujarat and the North. The South as a region was hardly on the national radar. However, there seems to be a Southern Surge — especially post liberalisation — with more and more south-based companies going really aggressive and attracting national and even international attention (media included) in various verticals. “Though established businesses existed in the south in areas like textiles, automotive and pharmaceuticals, to name a few, certainly there is a southern surge. I would consider the 1980s as the turning point in this change, and with liberalisation there has been a bigger change,” points out Raman Mahadevan, business historian and a keen observer and researcher of business in south India. Most of the new generation businesses have come up in areas like pharmaceuticals, IT and ITeS, infrastructure, and aviation. Consider this. In the IT and ITeS space, it is Infosys, Wipro and Satyam who rank among the top. Similarly, in the pharma space, Dr Reddy’s, Aurobindo, Orchid, Matrix Labs, Hetero Drugs are a few prominent names. What explains the rise of the rise of these companies? Pure entrepreneurial zeal, gumption and drive, policy driven opportunities? Or more?

Seeds of growth