From: rajesh@Tandem.com (Rajesh Srivastava)
Subject: Export / Import Business with India
Organization: Tandem Computers
Distribution: soc
Date: Wed, 30 Dec 1992 23:24:52 GMT

Thanks to all of you Indians who responded positively to my last posting 
either on net or directly to me. Since, I have not received any negative
feedback it indicates that the topic does concern us. Then what are we 
waiting for.

The following are some points which I have gathered with my Research which
I do in my free time. These opinions are mine and are not intended to harm
anyone. These are compilation of facts as I see them.

EXPORTS FROM INDIA
------------------
1. All industrial sectors are not very well organized in India. My opinion 
   is that Computer HW/SW industry is pretty well organized - so we have 
   the current results.
2. The Indian industry lacks a sense of commitment to product quality to
   compete in International market. This may be attributed to lack of test
   facilities. It has been realized as a problem - as a result a number of 
   private material testing facilities are booming in different metros.
3. Our pricing is way too high than international competetiors i.e. China.
   Our manufacturers should realize Export is a low profit and high volume
   business. Most of the items are imported at less than 1/3 the retail 
   price. 
4. We lack good Indian marketing companies in foreign markets. As we intend
   to have a big manufacturing base in India we should also have a large 
   base of marketing companies abroad. This can very well be handled by NRIs
   who know the local market. Marketing by the manufacturer may not be good
   idea for a start up because of the enmorous cost involved.
5. We cannot afford Indian MBAs to do marketing in US etc. I believe that
   Engineers ( like me ) have an equally good chance of marketing in US. 
   Irrespective of what we wish to market, if we understand the local industry
   we can do it pretty well. For your information, it has been found that 
   Engineers ( with right aptitude ) have a much better chance of being 
   successful in Commercial professions because of their sound maths back-
   ground and imagination power. This has been used successfully by many 
   leading companies in India. HCL - which has an excellent success story 
   was founded and is being run by Engineers and not MBAs.
6. We have to be scientific in utilizing the cheaper resources in India. 
   We will not be able to get commercial success if we do not use modern
   techniques of manufacturing. The low cost benefits will decay if we have
   a high rejection rate of the goods produced. Mexico's economy is booming
   because US companies have successfully merged modern technology with 
   cheap manpower. We could use the same for India. 
7. Central Govt. and almost all state govts. are providing assistance to 
   NRIs in establishing 100% export units. The communication facility is
   improving very fast in India. If it continues then the industries can
   be distributed throughout India rather than metros which have experienced
   exponential growth in recent years. Locating the industry in a small place
   can further reduce the cost of production. I accept the electricity problem
   - but that's true will metros and big industrial estates also.  

I would appreciate if some like minded interested fellow Indians can share their
thoughts with me. For those who want to do the same but are waiting for the right
opportunity then, if incresed number of Indian products available in major Dept. 
stores is some measure then now is the time to act. Indian exports will increase 
- it's upto you to grab the opportunity.

Good Luck

Rajesh
Newsgroups: soc.culture.indian