Post-independence industrial resurgence owes a lot to an incredible spread of automotive industry in India in the 1980s and 1990s. This resurgence was triggered in large measure by Maruti. The Maruti Story by RC Bhargava and Seetha is an interesting documentation of how Maruti spread its wings across the Indian landscape, significantly impacting industrial climate, regulatory regime and, indeed, policy framework. In the process, it also laid the foundation of a vibrant, technology-driven automotive industry in India.
It?s a fascinating saga of grit, determination and abiding commitment of a few individuals who chose to create an enterprise unparalleled in the industrial history of India?all within the fold of a state-owned enterprise. A small team of managers handpicked by Indira Gandhi from civil services and business was entrusted to carry forward the dream of Maruti. Nearly completely insulated from political interference in its initial stage by patrons like Arun Nehru, this team went ahead and delivered to India a world-class, small car company. Eventually, this company unleashed an automotive revolution in India, changing the way India was to subsequently grow in industrial terms and commute. Of course, this did not happen without its due share of pangs and pains.
The Maruti Story has several parallel perspectives running through the book. It is an insightful account of how India had its first brush with modern, technology-driven manufacturing ethos focusing on continuous cost reduction and incessant product improvement. The book is an absorbing exhibit of astute strategic maneuverings by a small team of people that saw Maruti travel from a small garage in Gulabi Bagh, a congested locality in north Delhi, to become an automotive behemoth that would occupy central space in India?s transport landscape.
Bhargava?s insider account of how the Maruti dream was kept alive through the labyrinthine passage of more than two and a half decades is replete with instances of numerous collisions between the government and Suzuki Motor Corporation (SMC).
The book also carries an interesting reflection of how Maruti, despite being part of public sector milieu fairly accustomed to cost and time overruns, succeeded?perhaps, because it chose to marry a technology partner whose functioning was a direct antithesis of all that public sector in India came to be identified with. It was a marriage of contrasts and, quite expectedly, had its own trials and tribulations.
The book is an account of how public sector enterprises in India face insurmountable challenges with constant bureaucratic and political interferences. How those representing the government on the board of these enterprises often disregard their fiduciary duty towards the company and how their boardroom articulations generally remain captive to personal whims and fancies of those who represent power centres within the government rather than the actual shareholders?the people of India. It also demonstrates in equal measure how public sector managers can create globally competitive entities given the right kind of support and encouragement.
With his deep insight into state functioning, Bhargava?s narrative moves seamlessly from ministerial bhavans in Lutyens Delhi to SMC?s headquarters at Hamamatsu in Japan and Hansalaya building at Connaught Place, exposing complicated interplay of politics, business and bureaucratic brinkmanship. A seasoned civil servant of 26 years, Bhargava gives a blow-by-blow account of how the Maruti dream got almost grounded on umpteen occasions, but for outstanding sense of enterprise of a handful of well-meaning people. Maruti brought to India world-class shop floor practices and an ancillarisation model that helped build up a globally competitive component industry to its current size of $4 billion. It also forced open a market that is now slated to become the small car manufacturing destination for the world. Equally importantly, Maruti introduced Indian car owners to global benchmarks of sustained customer service support.
The Maruti Story is an honest account of how individuals can and do make a lasting impact?positive and negative?on public sector enterprises in India and also how, given the leadership of a few committed professionals, an enterprise can attain global proportions beating all odds. It?s a must read for those who wish to understand the journey of industrial resurgence in India. For a large community of business managers, the book would be an insightful account of how a thought could be nurtured to become a world-class organisation. And, for managers of public sector enterprises in India, this must serve as a textbook on what ails most of their entities and how to overcome crippling constraints.
?The writer is a former bureaucrat. He now heads the capital goods division of Bharat Forge Ltd