WorldCity Business Magazine

(2) book preview - India: the largeset market the world has ever seen

by William Nobrega

So far as I am able to judge, nothing has been left undone, either by man or nature, to make India the most extraordinary country that the sun visits on his rounds. Nothing seems to have been forgotten, nothing overlooked. Mark Twain

The country has the worlds largest truck manufacturer and the worlds largest motorcycle manufacturer. The country has the most FDA approved drug companies outside the United States and the largest number of Fortune 500 R & D centers outside the U.S. The country has the third largest stock exchange in the world in terms of trading volume. It is the second largest producer of sugarcane, the largest producer of milk, the largest producer of fruits, the third largest producer of cotton and thats just the beginning.

Here are a few more statistics to overwhelm you, before we put it all in context: India is home to the worlds fifth largest coal reserves and the third largest bauxite reserves. It is the fourth largest steel producer in the world, the sixth largest aluminum producer and the third largest manufacturer of CDs and DVDs. Indians purchase six million cell phones per month. There are 40 million Internet users in India and the number is projected to grow to 200 million by 2015. The middle class comprises more than 50 million people today and is expected to exceed 583 million people by 2025. Seven hundred million Indians own property. One hundred million households have bank accounts. Eighty million Indians hold highschool degrees and India is home to the largest number of engineering graduates in the world.

Now for some context

India is a complex and growing country, on its way to becoming a world economic power. Despite the accomplishments listed above, most Indian business leaders and many of the more progressive politicians are also painfully aware of the fact that India has a long way to go before it can become what they would like it to be. The country is in a transition period between Old India and New India. You can never be sure which you will find.

There is a common perception that India has a lopsided economy built on information technology and business process outsourcing, but that is changing rapidly as national and multinational firms scramble to meet the demands of a rapidly growing middle class. The rapid expansion of Indias manufacturing base is, in turn, creating millions of skilled and semi-skilled jobs for a very young working-age population.

First impressions can be misleading

When I first visited the country in late 2001, my impressions were mixed, starting from the moment my American doctor prescribed ant-malaria medication for my trip. Youre kidding! I said when I read the prescription. No, I am not, he replied. Malaria is widespread on the Indian sub-continent. By the way, youre going to need a series of vaccinations. Now I was beginning to get a bit nervous. Wasnt I traveling to the fourth largest economy in the
world, home to some of the leading outsourcing and technology firms? Wasnt Bangalore supposed to be like Silicon Valley? This was beginning to sound more like a safari, with mosquito netting and a rifle for tigers.

I arrived in New Delhi after spending what seemed like an eternity on a flight out of Chicago. The New Delhi airport was nondescript and long overdue for a major renovation. There seemed to be an island-like attitude among the security staff and airport personnel that gave me the feeling that I was somewhere in the Bahamas. I finally located my car only to find my driver fast asleep behind the steering wheel. It took me several minutes to revive him. After navigating out of the parking lot, which required numerous parked cars to be physically pushed out of the way, we made it to the highway. There I endured a 40-minute ride down potholed streets while my driver played chicken with motorized scooters and the occasional cow.

The next morning I was standing at a crowded intersection in the heart of the city, when I noticed a pack of monkeys moving steadily towards my direction. These werent the cute little spider monkeys that your kids would giggle at while spending a relaxed Sunday at the local zoo. These were more like baboons; in fact it seemed to be a gang of ill-tempered baboons and they were coming my way. I looked around to see if anything else was amiss, but my fellow pedestrians seemed uninterested. Later, as I headed back to the safety of my hotel, I found myself repeating over and over, fourth largest economy in the world, fourth largest economy in the world.

That was six years ago.

By now, a local court has ordered the monkeys to leave the city although it is still unclear if they will comply. When you fly into New Delhi today you will still not be impressed by the airport; it is a mess. But by 2010 the airport will have been completely renovated, boasting a passenger capacity that will rival Chicago-OHare with futuristic terminals that would make any architect proud. This is the New India, partly here, partly under construction.

It is often said that the only thing India has in common is the national currency, the Indian rupee, and its geographic borders, stretching approximately 2,500 miles from north to south and about the same distance from east to west. There are 28 states, four major ethnic groups, 16 official languages, hundreds of local dialects and every religion known to man. Calling the country complex would be an understatement. But if you had the luxury of time and money you might be able to get a more complete picture by taking a journey through each of Indias twenty eight states.

To be continued The author is founder and president of The Conrad Group, a Miami-based consulting firm with offices in Sao Paulo and New Delhi. His text is an excerpt from a forthcoming book entitled Riding the Indian Tiger: Understanding India, the Worlds Fastest Growing Market, scheduled to be published by John Wiley & Sons in December. A second excerpt will appear in WORLDCITYs November issue.