Numero uno

Numero uno

Best cities for business (BT Cover, September 7) gave a 360-degree perspective on the business climate prevailing in the leading cities of India. The ranking of various cities according to their business quotient made sense and was spot on. It came as no surprise to find Mumbai at the top of the heap again. It remains a fact that western India in general and Mumbai in particular provide better infrastructure for doing business than elsewhere in India.

Mahesh Kumar, through e-mail

Convert NBFCs into banks

Sitting on a time bomb (BT, September 7) was timely and wellmeaning. The story is both a telling reminder of the state-of-affairs of our non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) and a warning to them. Like the Development Financial Institutions (DFIs), which quickly converted themselves into banks to gain access to cheaper resources and other accompanying benefits, NBFCs, too, need to move along that direction. Already, the high cost of procuring deposits from customers has squeezed the operating margins of NBFCs. Then, unsecured lending to borrowers has caused serious asset-liability mismatches. Mounting delinquencies mean NBFCs are fighting to survive. Rising interest rates will only make matters worse for them. It is, therefore, in the interest of financial stability that NBFCs should be encouraged to convert into banks by the market regulator.

Srinivasan Umashankar, through e-mail

Making it big

Meet anand.jain@ril.com (BT, September 7) not only made for an attractive headline but also outlined Anand Jain’s unique business strategies. Jain has gratefully acknowledged the sound mentoring of Dhirubhai Ambani, whose advice has helped put many enterprising men on the road to business glory. Like his mentor, Jain is thinking big. He is showing how one can make it big in business if one has his priorities right and well cut out. However, to peg all of Jain’s success to his proximity to the Ambanis is unfair. There is nothing wrong in following the proven methods of successful entrepreneurs. When Jain’s detractors unjustifiably make insinuations against his business model and methods, they do more harm than good.

B. Rajasekaran, through e-mail

The champ spirit

Your editorial, Invest more in sports and the newsmaker column on Abhinav Bindra (BT, September 7) was a fitting tribute to the doughty spirit of Indian sportspersons. Despite official apathy and lack of sports infrastructure in India, Indian sportspersons have done well in the face of odds to win three medals at the Beijing Olympics. By highlighting the achievements of sportsmen like Bindra in your magazine, you have struck the right chord among today’s young generation, who, if given proper encouragement and the wherewithal, can turn out into medal winners tomorrow. Our sporting stars like Bindra deserve their laurels for leading by personal example, individual brilliance and sheer grit and determination. These Olympic heroes have become true role models and trailblazers for thousands of young men and women who aspire to take up sports as a career and make a mark for themselves and their country.

Mahesh Kapasi, through e-mail

Greatness @75

C.K. Prahalad’s vision of India @75 (BT, August 24), to be honest, read like another flight of pretty fancy. But come to think of it…what Prahalad suggests is not entirely so. India has the talent pool to turn things around. Every year, thousands of young people graduate from the country’s engineering and medical colleges. If we mobilise these people, we can serve as a onestop base for low-cost manufacturing, healthcare and for research in life sciences. What’s needed is selfbelief and political will.

Dilip Joshi, through e-mail

Editor, Business Today, Videocon Tower, 5th Floor, E-1, Jhandewalan Extension,
New Delhi—110055.

E-mail: letters.bt@intoday.com
Website: https://www.businesstoday.in/
Unsolicited articles will not be returned or acknowledged

For subscription assistance write to:

Customer Care, India Today Group, A-61, Sector-57,
Noida (U.P.) — 201 301
Phone: (95120) 2479900 from
Delhi & Faridabad; (0120) 2479900
(Monday-Friday; 10 am-6 pm)
from Rest of India;
Toll free no. 1800 1800 100
(from BSNL/ MTNL Lines);
Fax: (0120) 4078080
E-mail: wecarebg@intoday.com