Showing posts with label China. Show all posts
Showing posts with label China. Show all posts

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

“Maintaining Last Year’s Growth is A Challenge”

Vinnie Mehta, Executive Director, ACMA

India’s automotive industry clocked heady growth of 30% in 2010, surprising both car makers and component manufacturers. Vinnie Mehta, Executive Director, Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India, shares his views on the outlook and prospects for the auto component industry with Pawan Chabra.

B&E: The automobile industry grew by leaps and bounds in 2010 despite component manufacturers facing capacity constraints in the initial months. Do you expect automakers to ride out the problem this year?
Vinnie Mehta (VM): The growth of the auto components industry is directly linked to the unit sales of automobiles in India. Sales of automobiles have so far been great and the good showing is sure to rub off on the auto components industry as well. If vehicle sales keep growing, the auto components industry’s dream run is sure to continue as well. On the issue of shortages, substantial investments have already been made over the past 12 months and a large chunk of the money has gone into ramping up the production cycle, which has taken care of most of the problems. However, certain issues (cost structure, order size et al) between component makers and original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) need to be ironed out. Though these largely concern individual relationships, they remain mostly beyond our control. While some customers have been able to manage the problems well, others have not been as capable. But by and large, we have been able to manage the whole thing pretty well. Last year was a year of unprecedented growth, so the challenge this year is to be able to maintain that growth trajectory and keep moving ahead.

B&E: For India, Chinese component makers offer both competition and counterfeits. What is your take on the challenges that the industry is facing from China?
VM: Though I have not studied the Chinese market extensively, it is for sure that the intellectual property (IP) regime in China is not as strong as it is in India. The Indian market has very strong copyright laws in place. Given the fact that the Indian consumer is very price conscious, but hardly aware of the perils of counterfeits and its related issues of safety and efficiency, it is our responsibility to work closely with the government and make the consumer more aware. This needs to be done both at the business and consumer levels.

B&E: Now that the excise duty has been left untouched in the Budget, do you think it will help provide support for maintaining the growth momentum?
VM: It will help the sector to continue on the growth path. In fact, in all the past discussions that we have had with the government, there were hardly any signs of making changes to the excise and customs duty structure. Moreover, as there is now a definitive deadline for the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST), it will help in solving various taxation issues as well. Our major recommendation to the government was implementation of GST. Now that it is happening, it is a good sign for the industry.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles

Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, January 17, 2013

380 deaths daily!

The shocking Chinese coal mines

Fushun’s Mengjiagou coal mine had a gas explosion in 2003, with a casualty of 25 miners ­– that was not as much a bad news­ ­as was their relatives being beaten up to death asking for compensation! In 2007, the official figure of the number of deaths in coal mines stood out at around 5000 miners, although independent research agencies estimate the actual figure to be as much as three to four times of that. It is reported that many sub-contractors in China run their mines like monster task masters. And the province of Shanxi is a crying shame of an example for China in this regard.

If last year’s coal mine accident in Shanxi that killed 270 people – and resulted in the resignation of Meng Xuenong, Shanxi’s governor – made you open your eyes, perhaps you missed out the fact that a few years back, the Director of State Administration of Production Safety in China accepted that 380 people died everyday in the coal mines of Shanxi, causing a direct economic loss of $12 billion every year. The figure is a staggering 2.5% of China’s GDP!

China’s fatality rate per million tonnes of coal production was reported half a decade back to be 3,824. Compare this to the 0.1 figure in the US and even Australia, top coal manufacturers.

In 2006, Premier Wen Jiabao made commitments to improve the safety standards. Eventually, in the same year, he passed an order to close down any coal mine with an annual output of less than 90,000 tonnes. Shanxi’s coal mines still continue haphazardly. This year, the new Shanxi governor commissioned that by 2011, the number of coal mines will be reduced by 1500 (to 1000) and by 2015 to 800. The claim is that any shaft with an annual output of less than 300,000 tonnes will be closed and taken over by the government. Are the Chinese true to their word?


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
An Initiative of IIPM, Malay Chaudhuri
and Arindam Chaudhuri (Renowned Management Guru and Economist).

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.

2012 : DNA National B-School Survey 2012
Ranked 1st in International Exposure (ahead of all the IIMs)
Ranked 6th Overall
Zee Business Best B-School Survey 2012
Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri’s Session at IMA Indore
IIPM IN FINANCIAL TIMES, UK. FEATURE OF THE WEEK
IIPM strong hold on Placement : 10000 Students Placed in last 5 year
IIPM’s Management Consulting Arm-Planman Consulting
Professor Arindam Chaudhuri – A Man For The Society….
IIPM: Indian Institute of Planning and Management
IIPM makes business education truly global
Management Guru Arindam Chaudhuri
Rajita Chaudhuri-The New Age Woman
IIPM B-School Facebook Page
IIPM Global Exposure
IIPM Best B School India
IIPM B-School Detail
IIPM Links
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
IIPM – FLP (Flexi Learning Program)
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , ,

Monday, November 19, 2012

Yes, Dr. Singh! It’s a huge crisis that looms in front of us; yet, it’s an excellent opportunity to display great leadership and become a statesman!

 It seems that the ruling United Progressive Alliance (UPA) is all set to gift away a comfortable victory for the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies in the forthcoming Union elections, with the latter doing nothing much to earn it. Looking at the way things are happening, it is as if history is repeating itself. It was not very long ago that onions had taken away the sheen of whatever good work that the then National Democratic Alliance had done. The electorate had then ruthlessly stripped them of their power, showcasing the crude fact that the Indian electorate posses extremely short memories, particularly when it comes to elections. And this time, no one else is realising it more than the ruling UPA. They realise that gone is the euphoria they created by gifting the huge Rs.60,000 crore loan waiver for farmers in this year’s annual budget, and that too barely two months ago. And gone along with it is the positive sentiment that was created by the increase in the non-taxable income from Rs.1 lakh to Rs.1.5 lakh. Also gone is the populist Sixth Pay Commission, which was clearly to woo the Indian middle class.

In less than a few weeks’ time, all that the UPA (and not just the Congress) had tried to prove – as being the representative of the aam aadmi – has been withered away by a phenomenon that is taking catastrophic proportions not just within the nation, but globally. The inflation figure, which is hovering at around 7.33%, has been giving sleepless nights to most governments across the world, including the UPA. In fact, UPA should remember quite well how, around a decade back, BJP had to pay dearly by getting routed in three state assembly elections, simply because the prices of onions had skyrocketed. And this time, it is not just onions; prices have shot up across each and every basic commodity, making things extremely difficult for the Congress. And out of nowhere, a disorganised opposition led by BJP, has found a major poll plank to avenge its earlier defeat. And if the UPA fails to reign in the prices, then it is needless to state that it would all be over for them, at least in the forthcoming elections.

It is a fact that other than certain climatic disruptions, most of this crisis has been primarily driven by the US, with their policy of diverting corn towards extraction of ethanol for bio-fuel being a major reason too! In addition to this, there has also been a sustained increase in the consumption of food in many of the developing countries, especially India and China! Moreover, China’s insatiable demand for steel and other basic commodities has anyways led to an increase in the general price index all across the world. But then, the simple fact that price rise is a global phenomenon, need not be excuse enough for not taking positive actions in India; on the contrary, this is an opportunity for India and its leaders to lead from the front and augment credibility not only for themselves, but for the nation as a whole. Not only that, if it were an Indian problem alone, one could still afford to be relatively complacent (as the world would always be there to help during a real crisis). But this time, it’s a global problem; and if we get into a crisis, there would be very less help coming our way, as all countries would be busy saving their own economies. So it becomes nothing less than imperative for the government to take urgent and proactive measures to solve this crisis.


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.

For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Thursday, September 6, 2012

It is Time for Hindi-Chini Bye Bye

Rising powers have a habit of flexing muscles. They are also genetically programmed to keep pushing the envelope; to keep cajoling, threatening, posturing and browbeating neighbours and other global powers. Germany did that in the beginning of the late 19th century. Japan did that in the first half of the 20th century. Russia did that even before the end of the Second World War. The result was two World Wars and a Cold War. Now, it is the turn of China to enter the equation.

Will the rise of China eventually lead to conflict, violence, bloodshed, hatred, triumphal emotions and even a war? If you go by history, violence, bloodshed and war are very much on the cards. Notice how China behaved almost immediately after it surpassed Japan as the second largest economy of the world. It has ploughed into a war of words with Japan. Ostensibly, the dispute is related to conflicting sovereign rights of the two nations over East Asian waters. In reality, it is China flexing its now hefty muscles and generally telling the world that it is really a Big Boy now; not to be trifled with. It doesn’t help that Japan had once militarily occupied China; Chinese rulers don’t seem to mind stoking jingoistic fires, as the average Chinese citizen is reminded again and again of Japan’s role as a former Imperial power.

China is treating India even more disdainfully. It refuses to allow a serving army general to visit China only because he is posted in Jammu and Kashmir which, China now seems to think, is a disputed territory. It is refusing to give visas to people from Arunachal Pradesh, since it claims the state actually belongs to China. It deliberately provokes and humiliates India by stapling visas to the passports of visiting Kashmiris instead of stamping them. It tried every trick in the book to sabotage India’s entry into the formal club of nuclear powers. Having failed, it is publicly and loudly doing everything it can to help Pakistan with nuclear technology and reactors; in a deal that mirrors India’s nuclear deal with the United States.

This China has to be stopped before it goes too far; so far down the road that conflict and war become inevitable in Asia. And India is in a unique position to play the kind of balancing role that will prevent that kind of catastrophe. As of now, Japan and India are the only powers in Asia who can say no to China. Others like South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia and even Australia too would love to do that; but they simply don’t have the heft to do so.

As the visit of US President Barack Obama draws near, India strategists must ponder over this new role India must play in Asia. The idea is not to oppose everything that China does. But it is to send an unmistakable message to the rulers in Beijing that that there is a limit to which they can proceed and not beyond that. How about persuading America, Japan and ASEAN nations to announce that Tibet is disputed territory?


Source : IIPM Editorial, 2012.
For More IIPM Info, Visit below mentioned IIPM articles.
 
IIPM : The B-School with a Human Face
Posted by at
Labels: , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Subscribe to: Posts (Atom)