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I had the option of building a career in the U.S. Many of my friends who went at the time did not come back, but for me, building the family business and being with family was worth it. I became a general manager within four months, as I used my education to improve productivity and output.
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We can reorient our products and business strategy because we are an agile organisation.
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I had my own motor boat which we would take to Khadakvasla, but that was 40 years ago.
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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.
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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.
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India is the most competitive manufacturing destination on this planet. If we are able to take advantage of that competitiveness for our domestic markets, this country would be humming with activity; industrial production will grow at 10-11% per year.
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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.
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If India has to achieve exponential growth, it would have to be on the back of strong growth in the manufacturing sector.
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We believe in the vision of 'Make in India,' and our proposed joint venture with Rafael is a step in this direction.
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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.
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If somebody told me you'd be a one and a half billion dollar company and be the largest in the world, I wouldn't have believed it myself.
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Which country in the world has the kind of talent India has in numbers?
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Bofors was a steelmaker that became a forgings company and then went on to build guns. Companies like Krupp and Thyssen were in steel and forgings before entering defence. There are similar examples in the U.K.; it is a natural progression.
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India is the second biggest defence procurer in the world after the U.S.
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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.
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The year 2013 has been very difficult, with a lot of headwinds in almost every region and every business.
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I am sick and tired of the process where everybody tells you that Indian companies don't have the technology and capability. We need to put money where our mouth is and make things happen, and that is what we are trying to do.
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With liberalisation, Indian industry gained international exposure because of which it became imperative for companies to rework their strategies to become globally competitive.
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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.
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I am an analog, slide-rule kind of guy.
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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.
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We passionately set up a programme that we call the Indian gun programme. I challenged Colonel Bhatia, who heads our defence business, that let's build an Indian gun. There's a belief that Indian companies aren't capable of this, and we want to prove them wrong, as we did in components.
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We have got into Indian railways and are trying to get into the railway locomotive business in Europe and the United States.
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We should have an inclusive growth model in India. Agro-interest is also as important as industrial interest.