Keep the standard flying high

Keep the standard flying high
When business the world over is being walloped by the economic crisis, India’s Mini Global Champs (BT, April 19) offers grounds for hope. In looking for bright spots when many American and European MNCs are on the ropes, these select Indian companies are able to build on their growth acceleration stories. As an Indian, I feel justifiably proud of their success and hope that more and more Indian companies will move to the top table of Global Inc.
— V.B.N. Ram, through e-mail

Making Global Strides
Till not very long ago, foreign multInationals constituted the backbone of big business in India. But as India’s Mini Global Champs shows, several plucky Indian companies— who till only few years ago would have been dismissed as being pipsqueaks by their foreign peers—are now coming into their own. Many Indian companies, like Binani Cement, are fast acquiring global footprints and making strategic acquisitions abroad. This trend is becoming so pronounced that some business watchers are calling it as reverse economic colonisation. Foreign MNCs can no longer count on being the only game in town when more and more Indian companies are keen on buffing up their business legacy.
— Ashish Nehra, through e-mail

The People’s Car
Given Nano’s alluring price and its arsenal of standard features, the car offers the biggest bang for the buck. At a time of cratering car sales, Nano promises to keep Tata Motors’ turnstiles turning for years to come.
— Vinod C. Dixit, through e-mail

Tata’s Trump Card
When Ratan Tata first broke his plans about introducing the Rs 1-lakh Nano, many in the industry took it to be a pie-in-the-sky promise. The recent launch of the Nano has not only turned that promise into a reality, it has proved that Tata’s vision of an ultra-cheap car for the masses was no idealistic fruitcake. In these times of economic duress, the Nano is all the more welcome because it has all the zippy features of a standard car model but without breaking the budget. I won’t be surprised if the Nano goes on to become a quintessential part of the Indian family’s dream.
— Mahesh Kumar, through e-mail

Satyam’s Hugger-Mugger
Where Angels Fear To Tread (BT, April 5) is a pointed analysis of the misgivings of the suitors in the race for the Satyam buyout. It’s easy to surmise why the process of finding the right buyer for Satyam has been hanging for so long. Investors are apprehensive to throw their lolly on less than pukka firms and Satyam may still have unexploded ordnance in its books that could throw its backers for a loop. At the same time, the newly-appointed managers at Satyam need to expedite the buyout process. Having become a temporary ward of the state, Satyam should not be allowed to become a permanent zombie.
— Ashok Jayaram, through e-mail

Corrections and clarifications
In reference to Issues Of Misuse (BT, April 5) , we would like to state that our IPO proceeds have not been misused by any yardstick. Your story, however, creates an impression that funds have not been utilised thus far for acquisitions, and that committed investments have not been disbursed in full. We have until date restricted the usage of funds within the legal ambit, so we are unclear how the impression has emerged otherwise.
— Ambarish Raghuvanshi, CFO, INFO EDGE (INDIA) LTD.

Our correspondent replies: The story specifically mentioned Info Edge as an IPO issuer that hasn’t utilised bulk of its IPO proceeds even after more than two years of raising the money from the public. As per the company’s own disclosure, it has utilised only 25 per cent (Rs 41.61 crore out of the Rs 170 crore raised through IPO by December 31, 2008). Its defence of not using the IPO proceeds “as it had an early warning of the impending recession as early as June 2007” is also not justifiable as the domestic economy started to slow down towards mid-2008.

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