Zitat des Tages von Baba Kalyani:
At the Bangalore air show, we got a contract from Boeing for supplying structural components, and we are already supplying jet engine components to Rolls Royce. Both these are titanium-based, not steel components.
If India has to achieve exponential growth, it would have to be on the back of strong growth in the manufacturing sector.
I had my own motor boat which we would take to Khadakvasla, but that was 40 years ago.
We've made two products; one is a 155 mm 52-calibre gun with self-propelling and towing capability. This is a field gun - the mainstay of the Indian army like the Bofors guns. Our gun is similar but of a longer range. That was 39 calibre; this is 52. The calibre denotes the length of the barrel and the range.
We believe in the vision of 'Make in India,' and our proposed joint venture with Rafael is a step in this direction.
Prior to 2001, hardly any company in North America or Europe would buy from India.
It's the adventure, the adrenaline-flowing, risk-taking in outdoor activities that attracts me.
The advantage comes out of the capability of Indian engineers and the competitiveness of their capabilities and the cost at which they can create those capabilities.
We have done a lot of work on cost reduction, getting ourselves lean, reducing our breakeven, reducing our fixed cost and increasing exports. All of these factors help because our export basket is not just automotive but also includes industrial products, railways and others.
You cannot make an aircraft without forged components.
We are working with the power industry all over the world. We are meeting customers in aerospace and getting them to tour our plants.
I am able to compete not because my labour is cheap, but because I can use technology better than others.
Indians have very good engineering capabilities, and that is why, if an industry focuses on innovation, you will have a far greater chance of success, rather than the model which is based on just being a production machine.
Politicians said that with our cheap labour, we could be competitive in the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. We were the most uncompetitive country with that cheap labour.
We book our exports forward for more than a year, and so we have a fixed rate. We do not get the spot rate that we see in the market every day.
One of the criteria for a global company is that it should have a manufacturing presence in multiple countries and should not only be an exporter.
Our real focus is going to be what can we do with our existing capacities, what new things can we do, and how much more demand can we fulfil with our existing capacities.
We have got into Indian railways and are trying to get into the railway locomotive business in Europe and the United States.
The emphasis on innovation and technology in our companies has resulted in a few of them establishing global benchmarks in product design and development, manufacturing practices and human resource capabilities. However, there is no room for complacency.
I give strong advice, but I don't expect it to be followed.
Everywhere in the world, whether manufacturing, trade or whatever, it is controlled by one apparatus and one policy perspective. Here we have one prime minister with good intentions, and six ministries running their own empires. This creates problems including the import culture.
We should have an inclusive growth model in India. Agro-interest is also as important as industrial interest.
Which country in the world has the kind of talent India has in numbers?
We manufacture automotive components including critical engine and axle parts for passenger cars, diesel engines and medium & heavy commercial vehicles. Till 1997, our focus was almost entirely on the domestic market with a relatively insignificant portion of revenues from exports.
Fundamentally, we have broken our aerospace business into three parts - large parts which go into the wings and fuselage, components for jet engines, and specialised structural components for landing gear.
The first reactions from Germany and German industry was quite negative. People right from the start were saying that we will steal technology and take it away and move the plant to India and use low cheap labor to compete.
From an operational perspective, exports challenge companies to design, develop, manufacture and supply products to discerning customers in global markets. This, in turn, motivates companies to scale up the value chain, which results in higher realisations.
The commodity price easing really does not play too much role in our margins because our basic raw material - steel - is not really a commodities engineering steel.
Before 2000, we were unable to design a single car; all the cars were designed in Japan, Europe or somewhere else. We were just converting.
We anticipate countries increasing their spending on infrastructure like railways, airports, power plants and ports. Our heavy forging plant has the capacity to cater to each of these segments.
I am a self-taught water skier and wind surfer.
India is still considered a preferred destination for many multinationals to manufacture cost-competitive high-technology products for domestic consumption as well as for global demand.
In the U.S., we didn't have scale, and without scale, it's difficult to operate.
The Indian business has largely grown on the back of exports. The domestic markets, as far as our Indian business is concerned, actually have contracted because of the contraction in the medium and heavy commercial vehicle space.
