Even the worst cynic would admit that it?s been a good year for India Inc. Just consider mergers and acquisitions. According to business advisory firm Grant Thornton, the total value of private equity deals and M&As involving Indian companies in this calendar year was more than $68 billion (Rs 272,000 crore). This was 143% higher than the amount last year. And of course, this does not include the Tata-Ford deal for Jaguar and Land Rover where the Tatas look like a shoo-in (This piece is being written before the winning bid has been announced).
This was the year that Indian companies shook off the last remnants of the mindset forced upon them through four decades of a sham socialism that treated the rich with suspicion and didn?t even help the poor. The world is taking notice. And two incidents this month, both involving the Tatas, should be indicative of a new phase in India Inc?s journey, and the next battles to be fought.
A group of US Jaguar dealers said they did not like the idea of Ford selling the British luxury car brand to an Indian company; they believed that ?it would cast a tremendous cast of doubt over the viability of the brand?. A few days later, the CEO of the British luxury and cruise firm Orient Express (quite coincidentally surnamed White) told the Tatas that the company would not like to associate with the Taj hotel chain since ?any association of our luxury brands and properties with your brands and properties would result in a reduction of our brands and of our business and would likely lead to erosion?. The Tatas have since asked White for an apology, accusing Orient Express of having a ?fossilised frame of mind?. The Indian group also released figures to prove that the Taj group does better in North America, on all financial parameters, than Orient Express.
Whether or not Orient Express apologises, India Inc will have to come to terms with the fact that it now invokes awe and insecurity in a lot of Western hearts. This is a price our companies have to pay for the grand successes they have had on the world stage in the last few years, and this is a price they will need to negotiate boldly yet carefully, and with sensitivity. Many more such battles could be in the offing.
And there is no reason at all to believe that India Inc won?t live up to the challenge. 2008 should be an exciting year. And I know no one in the Indian corporate sector who is not looking forward to it eagerly. And maybe rubbing their hands a little too, in anticipation.
A slightly early Happy New Year then, to all our readers.