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The Rediff Business Special/B K Karanjia

Espousing the cause of Indian products

Part 2: Three-fold effort that made Godrej a corporate giant

Economics could not be dissociated from social problems. Respect for work had to be instilled. The trouble in India was that workers were not made to feel as if they were part of a benevolent system and that they were working for the general good, as a result of which, if they worked better, they would get better rewards. The other important hurdle to India's success was discipline. Here gain, the examples of Japan and Korea were relevant. The Koreans had a tightly controlled economy, but they had also been made to feel that working together in a united manner could bring about great changes in the country.

'Be wary of the politicians'

Growth had to be achieved through consolidation. In the private sector, this was done as a matter of course because of the imperative of footing the bill. But a number of projects started by the government did not run consistently. The infrastructure, which was mainly within the government's purview and on which a large part of industry depended, had to be well maintained.

There was a great need for cooperation in industry. 'We should be wary not to fall into the traps that the politicians lay for us', Sohrab warned, 'and make sure that we do cooperate. Otherwise the fate of our country is very dim.'

Indian industry was trying hard to acquire expertise in capital markets and ensure for itself a global presence. As part of trade delegations to various countries, Sohrab made it his mission to project products of Indian industry as a whole including Godrej products, naturally, and to try and promote mutual trade-relations at an international level.

With freedom won, trade between Britain and India was on an even keel. India was poised for a quantum jump in its growth. It had all the elements necessary for this -- large technical manpower, a developing industrial infrastructure, an active capital market, a large and growing domestic market for consumer goods. The aim of these various missions was to bring together businessmen of India and the other countries and to reduce the information-gap existing between them.

The mission covered a fairly wide spectrum of industry, including chemicals, engineering goods and consumer goods. The members sought, among other things, technology transfer, joint ventures in countries like Malaysia, Singapore and Latin America and collaborations with buyback arrangements. An important event in this direction was the establishment in 1982 of the Council of European Economic Community Chambers of Commerce in India. It was intended to promote, foster and extend commercial and industrial relations between India and members of the European Economic Community, and to develop commercial exchange between industry, trade and business in their respective countries.

The main snag in further strengthening these economic relations was the adverse trade balance that India had with the European Economic Community. The trade deficit was as much as 50 per cent of India's global deficit! Although it was primarily the responsibility of India to increase its exports to the Community, some encouragement from the EEC countries was necessary to augment exports from developing countries like India.

Some European countries like France, West Germany and the Netherlands had already established agencies for this purpose. Sohrab wondered whether the EEC itself could establish an agency to coordinate and strengthen such efforts. Of course, the generalised system of trade preferences introduced by the EEC had benefited developing countries like India.

However, the quotas fixed in the early Sixties needed to be revised on the basis of available resources and recent developments in each country. Sohrab cited the example of India, which should have a higher quota than most countries, since the textile industries in India depended upon the cotton grown in India itself. India could not be compared with a unit like, say, Hong Kong which had to import its cotton or yarn requirements.

An International Chamber of Commerce Congress with trade delegations from various countries was held in Delhi in February 1987. Sohrab followed this up in 1988 by undertaking a whirlwind tour as part of the Indian trade delegation to Spain, Portugal, Belgium and France.

Apart from import and export, the question of further transfer of technology and joint ventures in diverse fields were taken up. There was vast scope for strengthening and increasing trade-relations with each of these countries. Temperamentally and culturally, Sohrab felt closer to Europe than to other countries. He had enjoyed much interaction with France: as president for nearly three decades of the Indo-French Technical Association and a vice-president and, later, president of the Indo-French Chamber of Commerce and Industry, among others.

France realised the market potential in India way back in 1958. The French government founded the ASTEF (Association pour 1' Organisation des Stages en France, which later came to be known as Agence pour la Co-operation Technique, Industrielle et Economique: ACTIM) to train Indian scientists and engineers and to acquaint them with French industries, French production methods and technologies. Another objective was to keep the trainees in contact with their French counterparts so that they could keep abreast of the developments.

From 1958 to 85, 2,500 Indian scientists, technologists and engineers were provided with technical training or obtained higher education in France practically in all fields of science and technology. Sohrab had a long and profitable association with the Indo-French Technical Association or IFTA. He took over as President in 1970 from Dr Homi Sethna.

Part 4: Love affair with France

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