2010 India Trade Mission

This morning the delegation met with the Confederation of Indian Industry, which is an entity similar to a Chamber of Commerce.  During this meeting we talked with the executive director of Mahindra, Arun Nanda.  Mahindra is a $6.3 billion company that employs over 100,000 people across the globe.  They manufacture and market utility vehicles and tractors.  They also have a significant presence in information technology (IT), financial services, tourism, infrastructure development, trade and logistics.  The company has three plants in the U.S. (Texas, Tennessee and Georgia) that manufacture tractors and they cater to what they call the "hobby farm market."

We then met with members of the Bombay Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Dr. Atindra Sen, director general of the chamber. The chamber was established in 1836 and is the oldest chamber in India.  The chamber has 20 subcommittees that focus on different segments of industry such as legal affairs, agribusiness and international trade.

During my conversations with Indian business leaders I've observed that clean technology and "green" or environmentally friendly practices are not widely used in India.  This may be an opportunity for various industry segments within the U.S. to bring their expertise to this market.

What this market is very interested in is quality.  This has been a shift partly because labor costs are increasing and, as a result, product quality has become a focus. 

We've also talked a great deal about the Indian legal system.  In general, the legal system is not highly trusted and people believe someone's word is sufficient to reach an agreement.  The legal system is based on common law and has been largely influenced by the British rule, so it's very similar to our system; however, there are some differences.  They have no juries and no tort law.  Areas such as real estate, corporate, commercial or most types of business transactions are very similar to the U.S. which make it desirable for U.S. companies to want to do business here.  An interesting fact I learned about the court system is that the India Supreme Court is clogged with property cases and it would take approximately 300 years to handle all of the property cases on the current docket.

I referenced a study by Dr. Geert Hofstede on intercultural business communications in my last post.  One area he studied is the Power Distance Index (PDI).  The PDI is a reflection on how much a culture does or does not have hierarchical relationships and respect for authority.  As I've mentioned, India places great importance on hierarchy.  For countries with a high PDI, like India, the study says that people can expect to encounter more bureaucracy in organizations and government agencies.  The property case backlog in the India Supreme Court is a prime example of this indicator.

After the meetings, we went to the Gateway of India, which is a monument located on the waterfront in the Apollo Bunder area in South Mumbai.  The Gateway is an 85 foot high arch.  It was used by fishermen as a jetty and later renovated to be used as a landing place for British governors and other dignitaries.  The arch combines both Hindu and Muslin architectural style and is striking.

During my visit I've come to appreciate many beautiful aspects of Mumbai.  The city lies on the Arabian Sea and has stunning views.  The Bandra Worli Sea Link bridge enhances the beauty of this coastline.  The bridge was recently completed and took six years to build.  It is an operator billed bridge, which means an operator provides the capital to build the bridge and owns it for a certain number of years, possibly 10 years or more, and gets the toll money that then pays for the building of the bridge.

Although Mumbai is a beautiful city, the traffic and congestion hinder its appeal.  Traffic is so bad that very large corporations use helicopters to transport people locally rather than dealing with the traffic.  Because it's so crowded and congested, it's acceptable to be late for appointments, although it's more acceptable to be late when you're meeting with government officials than corporate leaders.  People also honk constantly.  Honking is not considered rude and is used as a way of letting someone know that they're close to you. 

So with all the stress from traffic, how do people relieve the tension?  One way is cricket.  Cricket is the number one sport in India and it's everywhere.  If you go by any park, there are always people playing cricket.  As I mentioned in my last post, it's summer here and the temperature is about 106.  It's incredibly humid and very hot and people are still outside playing cricket!