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The Rediff Business Interview / Gary C Wendt

'India has the potential to be the hub of GE's information flows'

During his short trip lasting a little more than three days, Gary C Wendt -- 56, chairman, chief executive and veteran of G E Capital Services, the wholly owned subsidiary of General Electric Company of the USA -- generated tremendous interest among media-persons in India. So much so that even foreign correspondents turned up at a media conference held in Bombay on Tuesday as part of the launch of SBI payment cards, a joint venture between the State Bank of India and GE Caps.

Wendt has sustained an 18 per cent income growth rate for the past 10 years, making GE Caps (1997 net earnings $ 3.3 billion) as strong and famous as its parent GE. His well-documented uneasy relations with GE's CEO Jack Welch and his growth-despite-recession approach have made Wendt a corporate superhero whom the media love to meet and chat up. His overprotective ''agents'' in India seem to know that too well, though Wendt himself appears to like being left free as a bird.

Even as his white skin turned pink and red and patchy in an overcrowded five-star lounge, Wendt retained his ability to laugh, smile, gesticulate and counter-question in the face of a deluge of queries from journalists, betraying, though, his consternation over the delay by the hotel staff in fetching a Diet Coke. Y Siva Sankar spoke to Wendt about GE Caps' experience in India.

GE Caps has completed almost five years of operations in India. How is it doing business with India?

Very good. But five years is not a very long time in the context of a global-scale corporate and the world's largest democracy.

You say very good. Not many foreign corporates say that. There are the usual complaints of red-tape, corruption, indecision....

No, no. Our experience has been very good. The government has been responsive to our proposals, the people here are so sensible and knowledgeable and understanding. No problems on that front. I only wish the dream run continues forever.

One of the three major tie-ups you have in India is with HDFC (Housing Development Finance Corporation). Reports say not everything is hunky-dory.

What do you mean? As far as my knowledge goes, things are all right. No major problems.

It is believed that HDFC is not happy that GE Caps has acquired a finance company without as much as a word with it.

These are all issues that are best left above and beyond media speculation.

GE Caps has a presence in auto financing, consumer financing and now credit cards in India. The SBI chairman has talked of reaching out to the ordinary citizen through credit cards. Will GE Caps look at low-cost housing finance that is considered crucial to India's development?

Low-cost housing? Well, GE Caps is always open to the idea of grabbing big opportunities. If we are convinced that low-cost housing is the next big business in India, we shall definitely look at it seriously. No doubt about that.

The entertainment industry in India, the second largest in the world, is very popular and even lucrative. But the need for high finance has always been felt. Indian film-makers say but for big money, they can make movies as good as those of Hollywood. Will GE Caps make a foray into film financing in India?

As I said, we will keep our minds open to all big opportunities, weigh all options. But I can't say anything on that now.

It is widely accepted that the Indian infotech industry is a ''Big Opportunity''. What are your plans?

We (GE Caps) already have a big information-processing centre in Delhi. Nearly 1,000 people are doing very good work. We have expansion plans.

Our global business (GE Caps has operations in 45 countries) calls for efficient information flows across the group and to and from our customers and partners and others. We want to explore whether India can be made the hub of our global information flows. I feel there is a lot of potential for that.

There seems to be a tendency among foreign companies to use Indian infotech professionals merely for low-value, mechanical work like data entry. But experts feel this can kill the goose that could lay the golden eggs. They feel Indian pros should be used for high-value work.

(Angrily), I don't agree with the first part of the question. I don't know what others are doing, but the kind of work that GE Caps does in Delhi is top-quality stuff. It calls for a lot of brains. We are happy that Indian professionals are doing a superb job of it.

For example, processing of insurance claims is hard work. You have to check so many details, be careful with every word, every law. And design appropriate programmes. It is definitely not mechanical work.

But, point noted. We will make efforts to harness the best that the Indian computer professionals have to offer.

Do you have anything to say on the US blacklisting Indian companies and government agencies?

No. It's not our policy to react to political issues. We are here for business. If you ask me for a comment, I shall say, man, ask the fellow standing next to me. I know as much as he does. Nothing more. My source of information is the newspapers, and I don't want to react to media reports.

Photographs: Jewella C Miranda

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