Mr Mukhopadhyay completed his MA (economics) from the University of Calcutta and was a research fellow with the Indian Council of Social Science Research in New Delhi before working for the West Bengal government as an urban economist. Having joined the DES as an economist in 1975, he has been the chief editor of its prestigious Statistical Outline of India since 1993 and was appointed as economic advisor by the department last year.

In this interview with Sujata Agrawal, the 57-year-old Mr Mukhopadhyay talks about the DES, economics and more. 

On the role played by the DES
The DES is the economic think tank of the Tata Group. It is our job to interpret economic happenings in India and around the world, to help the management of Tata companies, and perceive the operating environment in an objective manner.

 J.R. D. Tata, along with Dr John Mathias and others, established the department in 1939. Mr Tata believed that economics was important in the running of a business as it helps in understanding the operating environment which is necessary for a company to be successful and globally competitive.

Our work is structured into two areas. We keep the management of the Tata Group abreast of current economic happenings by circulating over 200 notes every year. CEOs are not economists but they need to understand economic issues. Our notes are condensed and contain a comprehensive analysis of economic events. (We released a note on the economic repercussions of the recent terrorist attacks on the United States within 24 hours. We released a more comprehensive analysis later.) We also assist the management of Tata companies by providing economic insights that may be required when putting together a business plan, or making a presentation to clients or the government.

We do a lot of work that relates to the Tata Group’s national endeavours. The DES helped formulate the first ‘Bombay Plan’ way back in 1944. In the early 1970s, we drew up an export plan for the Planning Commission. Very recently we were involved in the National Statistical Commission’s work. We also make representations to the government on behalf of Tata companies and sometimes, the Group Chairman.

At the DES, we do overall macro-economic research and now we are going into micro-economic and corporate research in a big way.

An important contribution by this department is the Statistical Outline of India (SO), which has been published since 1951. It was initiated by  J.R. D. Tata, who believed that economics ought to be user-friendly rather than textbook-based and that authentic data is required to objectively perceive the operating environment. SO has been acclaimed worldwide. Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were great admirers of the book and always carried copies of it when they went abroad. It used to be distributed virtually free but when I took over as chief editor I thought we could make a business of it. Today we are earning revenue from it. We have a CD-ROM version and will soon be taking it online.

On the World Trade Organisation
The Tata WTO cell was established in the DES in December 1999 following an initiative by R Gopalakrishnan and with the advice and support of F.A. Mehta, K. N. Suntook and now T. R. Doongaji.

Essentially, we are part of a resource management chain on WTO. We offer and disseminate information to group companies and, if necessary, discuss issues with other organisations. We have already set up a documentation cell relating to the WTO, a network system with other research organisations, including the union ministry of commerce and a network of individual experts.

We started with a WTO awareness programme and have held 45 workshops across many Tata companies. When I took over as economic advisor in December 2000, we launched the WTO audit, which is a study and audit of Tata companies based on WTO imperatives.

The DES, under my guidance, has devised the concept and methodology (which are virtual copyright materials) of the audit. It gives a comprehensive score of global competitiveness in the ensuing WTO regime. The scoring diagram is alpha numeric and colour coded and the competitiveness is on scale of 0 to 1,000.

The score is a kind of ‘health report’ on the company, and it does not make any value judgements. It is an aid to the company management, like a pathologist’s report, that identifies areas of concern in an empirical way. It is then up to the company to mark its strategy over a period of time. We help them by providing technological, managerial and economic inputs or advice and by participating in the strategic functions of companies so that they can be globally competitive.

An alpha part of the score - T2 - means that a company operates in an environment in which the threat perception is medium. The operating environment is an external factor that a company may or may not have any control over. Since second-generation reforms are yet to be implemented in India, the overall economic environment in the country is not congenial for global competitiveness. Companies need to go to the government with a wish list so that the operating environment is made congenial for competitiveness.

We have completed the WTO audit in seven Tata companies and, by March 2002, we shall have completed five more. The DES is a small unit and the audit is done along with other regular work. It takes about three months to complete one audit because of the vast data required from the company.

On future plans for the DES
The department is being restructured through a five-year business plan. At present Tata Services is dependent on contributions from other companies. With Mr Doongaji’s initiatives, the DES would like to be a revenue-earning unit over a period of five years. Realistically speaking, if companies had to source the information we provide from external sources, they would have to pay very stiff fees. We have initiated revenue-earning thanks to the WTO initiative, which is a group initiative and is funded by BEBP (Brand Equity Business Promotion). This year we may earn 35-40 per cent of our expenses. Our target is to be 100 per cent revenue-independent by the fourth year.

Besides, we have already structured other revenue-earning activities. Two years hence we may not focus so much on the WTO audit; we would like to be part of a company’s annual business strategy planning activity. For that we are structuring and formatting new service packages which will be customised to meet the requirements of each company.

Tata Group companies will, in the future, change the way they do business depending on the changing Indian and global economy. Ours is, therefore, not a static plan but one which is reviewed and revised regularly. We are planning to go totally online soon and provide fee-based services electronically. If we get a mandate, we would like also to provide our services to outside companies.

On working with the Tata Group
I was an urban economist with the Calcutta Metropolitan Planning Organisation in the Ministry of Planning and Development, Government of West Bengal, and was based in Asansol. Someone in the office answered an advertisement from Tata Services on my behalf and I came to Mumbai. I had some other job offers at that time but, of course, the Tata name was the most prestigious. I joined the group in 1975. I was recruited to initially assist in the economics-related work of  J.R.D. Tata. 

My learning of real economics started here. What I had learned at Calcutta University and in Delhi was helpful in as much as knowing the alphabet helps you read. My original specialisation was international trade but here I worked in areas such as overall macro-economics, privatisation and aviation, environment, and energy economics. The exposure I got here wasn’t available anywhere else in India.

In the Tata Group, we had giants like J.R.D. Tata, Naval H. Tata, Sumant Moolgaonkar, Nani Palkhiwalla and Darbari Seth, to name a few. Constant interaction with them, while doing research work, gave me invaluable opportunities to learn. The Tata Group is a microcosm of the Indian economy; the Tata culture is one of looking beyond an individual company’s business towards the national economy. In the DES, we have the opportunity to work in diverse areas of corporate finance, overall macro-economics, national economic policy and international economic issues and developments.

It is now difficult for me now to work elsewhere, even though I keep getting offers. I am a conscientious Tata officer and am not too bothered about pay and perks, though pay and perks are important and necessary, more so to retain younger people.

If I were a young economist in today’s world and got an opportunity to work here, I would consider myself extremely lucky. The DES is now doing relevant research in techno-managerial applied economics. Young economists are groomed here and the management may have to take care that they remain here.

On the personal front
I was a poet, an art critic and I used to publish a magazine… Bengali intellectuals do these things. But now I’ve given it all up. Economics has become my way of life, my occupation and my hobby. When I need more time, which is often, I cut down on my sleep.

I am completely dedicated to my work, to the extent of overlooking my health in the process. In February this year, I was to be hospitalised but I had a presentation to make in Jodhpur the next day and, against the wishes of my family and the doctor, I went. I felt it would be unprofessional to cancel the trip after all the arrangements had been made. I returned to Mumbai the next day and headed straight to the hospital. And I’m not the only one in the DES who is dedicated to his job. We are so involved with our work because we enjoy it.

When my friends in Kolkata ask me about my latest book of poems, I give them a copy of the Statistical Outline of India! An eminent Bengali poet, on receiving a copy, once wrote (metaphorically), “If this is not poetry then what is.” 

I have two and a half years of service left. I hope to have the five-year plan largely implemented by then so my successor can take it further. After I leave, I would like the DES to continue to render excellent economics services, and I will feel happy if they continue to do so.

I want to move on. One thing that attracts me tremendously is schooling. I have always been involved in school activities in some form. I studied at the Ramakrishna Mission in Narendrapur near Kolkata and was also a teacher there. I stayed there for 15 years; it is still my home. I was the vice-chairman of the parents and teachers association at my son’s school, St Xavier’s at Vile Parle in Mumbai. I think my favourite music is the ‘noise’ of children when the school bell rings! Someday I may run a school, not a regular school but a special school for problem children. I have a model in mind: a school for street children in Rome.

On what it takes to be an economist
To be an economist you need to have a rational mind. You draw inferences that are based on certain hypotheses. You have to be objective. Economics is about not only the analysis of data but also about the interpretation of facts as well as forecasting the future. Unless you have an analytical bent of mind, it’s difficult to be an economist.

Economics is not just mechanical number crunching; You have to have a thinking mind because you have to assume and foresee things. The society is your laboratory. Your assumptions can change due to the changing environment.

But you cannot give different assumptions when you work for a company. The late American president Dwight Eisenhower had an economic advisor who would say, “On the one hand, this may happen. On the other hand, that may happen, or a third thing may happen.” Eisenhower got irritated and said, “I need a one-armed economist.” That is what we try to be in the DES.

This was the first lesson I learned here. As an economist, I had to give Mr Tata and others a considered opinion, not a variety of opinions to choose from. An economist working for a company or a group like the Tatas must write notes which are brief and concise, and not like an article for an academic journal or magazine.

At the same time, young economists should write academic papers, if only to prove their academic credentials. To be a recognised economist, it is important to be published. People will not recognise you if you are not part of an economic group, and networking is very important. Writing papers helps in this regard, but one has to burn a lot of midnight oil for this.

I have had over 65 articles and pamphlets published in reputed journals, as well as 12 academic papers. I have also been fortunate in getting opportunities here to interact with established economists from various walks of life.