As Pakistan speaks foolishly and irresponsibly and incredibly about war, I recall ‘How a firm in Leeds saved India’s blushes in the Kargil War.’
I write to you from China – another country which over territory has fought with India. A previous article, Economic Times which read ‘Flashback to 1999, and the Kargil war. The military is forced to abort missions due to heavy casualties. Then it decides to deploy the controversial Bofors gun to destroy Pakistani outposts from various vantage points. The strategy pays off, but he military realises it will soon run out of ammunition to feed the howitzers. At the urging of the army commanders, the defence ministry turns to Baba Kalyani and his company Bharat Forge to make shells for its Bofors 155mm howitzers.’
I met Baba Kalyani several years ago and asked him his big break. He told me they happened in the late 1970s to acquire a Leeds based company and that was critical to their success.
I was in India recently looking to find companies to help go global from a UK base in my capacity as Dealmaker for the UK Government. Financial success for Indian companies is not simply born out of success in the Indian markets alone as the Bharat Forge story tells us. The UK is an easier place to do business and that is precisely why Indian companies need to invest here and grow with a UK and Indian base. Europe is 10 Indias – India alone is too small for Indian ambitions. This was my message to the corporates I met.
I was astounded by the ingenuity of robotics companies in Kochi, who sold to US giants. But the credibility and brand value a UK company brings them, with Indian back end operations would help take them to the next level.
So when you look to invest in Indian stocks, look for companies with a global footprint. Just as when you look to invest in global British companies like Barclays, Marks and Spencer. That way you know growth is not reliant on one small market.
The heads of Microsoft, Pepsi, Google, Mastercard are all Indian – so why are more Indian companies not thinking about the whole world, not just India as their market.
The most successful Indian investments will have a British arm – look out for it – just as Bharat Forge saved a nation from embarrassment, thanks to a British component, so too a UK-Indian partnership will prove the most lucrative for Indian and British companies time and again.
Alpesh B Patel
