"Do
you mean to say that Tatas propose to make steel rails to
British specifications? Why, I will undertake to eat every
pound of steel rail they succeed in making." Those words,
uttered in 1907 by Sir Frederick Upcott, the then Chairman
of Board of Indian Railways, however, did not deter the legendary
Jamshedji Tata. In the next 100 years, the Tata Group, which
he had founded, went on to build not just steel but a conglomerate
with a presence in myriads of businesses from steel to salt,
automotive to telecommunications, and software to retail among
others, and whose geographical footprints are spread from
Chicago to Johannesburg, London to Lusaka, and Canada to Mexico.
In its globalization endeavor, the group, in its hundredth
year of existence, fittingly stamps once again its grit and
courage on the world stage with the acquisition of British
steelmaker, Corus, in the largest ever cross-border merger
by any Indian company so far. The $12 bn acquisition has propelled
Tata Steel into the elite list of top 10 global steel giants.
Other Tata group concerns like Tata Tea and Tata Motors too
have made a mark for themselves in the global arena. Tata
Tea with a slew of overseas acquisitions including the high-profile
acquisition of UK's Tetley, is now the second largest tea
brand globally, while Tata Motors has driven its way, literally,
into several foreign markets including Britain and Africa.
Having
taken a cue from Tata's audacious move, more and more Indian
business houses have been latching on to the globalization
bandwagon. From IT industry's top guns TCS, Infosys, Wipro,
and Satyam to drug makers Ranbaxy and Dr. Reddy's Lab to Tulsi
Tanti-promoted Suzlon Energy, the Indian business houses,
with a mix of solid organic as well as inorganic growth strategies,
have made major moves towards establishing India Inc. firmly
on the global business map. And this new-found aggression
of India Inc. is not some flash in the pan, but it stems from
its ability to deliver superior performances and single-minded
focus on delivering cost-efficiency and achieving impeccable
quality that is world-class. |
