[Assam] Economist: Optimists gaining ground over others

Fri Oct 20 15:41:41 PDT 2006

- AN ARTICLE FOR YOU, FROM ECONOMIST.COM -

As I read in Reader's Digest long ago: If you are ignorant but confident then success is sure; 
Success = Ignorance + Confidence

It seems Indians (who have been [kept?] ignorant for long) have now got some self confidence. 

Umesh

-------------------------

STEEL
Oct 20th 2006 

Tata Steel's $8 billion purchase of Corus, an Anglo-Dutch rival, says
much about consolidation in the steel industry and about India's
acquisitiveness

WHAT a difference a year makes. In 2005 Tata Steel, India's largest
private-sector steelmaker, was an industry minnow ranked as only the
56th largest steelmaker in the world, by production. It was a likely
meal for bigger fish to swallow. Now, after striking an $8 billion
agreement to take over Corus, a much larger Anglo-Dutch rival, it is
poised to become the sixth largest such firm on the planet, with a
likely annual output (judging by last year's performances) of some
22.6m tonnes.

The deal was announced on Friday October 20th, with the two firms
pledging to complete by January, leaving time for a possible--though
some say unlikely--rival bid for Corus to emerge. For Tata it
represents a significant triumph in a fragmented industry that is fast
consolidating. Analysts who monitor the big metals and mining firms,
where there has been a frenzy of activity in recent months,
increasingly classify companies as either "hunter or hunted". Mittal
Steel (a Europe-based firm run by an Indian tycoon, Lakshmi Mittal) has
devoured Arcelor, a Luxembourg-based steelmaker, for $32.2 billion, and
is easily the world's biggest steelmaker. Consolidation in the steel
industry seems to be the result of firms seeking more leverage over the
few global suppliers of the raw materials (iron ore and coking coal)
for making the metal.

The expansion of Tata is also a reflection of a rapid growth in
confidence among Indian firms. This deal is by far the largest foreign
purchase ever made by an Indian company. Corporate India has matured
dramatically since 1991, when reforms cut away bureaucratic controls
and encouraged the creation of a more competitive marketplace. Tata
Steel is emblematic of the successful parts of Indian manufacturing and
is known as the lowest-cost producer in the world. 

Indian companies are in an expansive, acquisitive mood. So far this
year Indian firms have announced 131 foreign acquisitions, with a total
value of $18.7 billion, a huge increase on previous years, and much
more than foreign firms have invested in Indian purchases.

The shopping spree spans industries from information technology (IT)
and outsourcing to liquor. Wipro, for example, one of the country's big
three IT firms, has this year acquired technology companies in
Portugal, Finland and California. In pharmaceuticals Ranbaxy, an Indian
maker of generic drugs, bought Ethimed of Belgium and Mundogen, the
Spanish generics arm of GlaxoSmithKline. 

Bharat Forge, the world's second-biggest maker of forgings for engine
and chassis components, based in the Indian city of Pune, has since
2004 bought six companies in four countries--Britain, Germany, Sweden
and China. Suzlon, another Pune firm, which makes wind turbines, this
year bought Hansen, a Belgian gearbox-maker. And United Breweries, a
booze conglomerate from Bangalore, has made an unsolicited bid for
Whyte & Mackay, a Scottish whisky distiller.

Behind this push overseas lies a combination of forces: a domestic
boom; the availability of credit; a rush to achieve global scale; and a
new self-confidence about Indian business's ability to add managerial
value. India's economy is in its fourth successive year of growth at
around 8%. In the first two quarters of this year GDP grew at rates of
9.3% and 8.9% respectively over the same periods in 2005.

What is noteworthy about many of the firms is that the root of their
success is not India's obvious competitive advantage: its vast,
low-cost labour force. In the IT and outsourcing industries, lower
salaries for college graduates are an important reason behind Indian
firms' rapid growth. But in manufacturing the stars tend to be experts
in automated, capital-intensive production. Bosses who have flourished
in such businesses in India, with its poor infrastructure and
still-daunting regulatory environment, understandably feel confident
that they have lessons to teach their new purchases in other countries.

See this article with graphics and related items at http://www.economist.com/agenda/displaystory.cfm?story_id=8070085

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Umesh Sharma
5121 Lackawanna ST
College Park, 
(Washington D.C. Metro Region)
MD 20740 

1-202-215-4328 [Cell Phone]

Ed.M. - International Education Policy
Harvard Graduate School of Education,
Harvard University,
Class of 2005

weblog: http://jaipurschool.bihu.in/
website: www.gse.harvard.edu/iep

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