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Tata
Nano — Can't deny aspirations
Livemint.com
— January 21, 2008
The unveiling of the Tata Nano is something
for which Ratan Tata and the Tata group should be applauded
In an earlier article published in Mint, I had questioned
whether the Tata group strategy of overseas expansion
is in the best interest of the shareholders. However,
the unveiling of the Tata Nano is something for which
Ratan Tata and the Tata group should be applauded.
Yes, there are detractors galore, whining about the
environment, congestion, road safety and so on. What
they are missing is that this car, soon to be followed
by numerous others, is another step in the economic
development of the country. This is similar to the introduction
of the Ford Model T or the Volkswagen, which led to
the building of highways and autobahns, and to the creation
of thousands of jobs.
As someone who faces the issue of congestion while
commuting to New Delhi from Gurgaon every day, I see,
and am optimistic about, the improvements taking place
and the public transportation systems under development.
Unfortunately, because of the politicians we elect,
India's development model is the reverse of that of
Singapore, South Korea and China, where development
follows infrastructure. Here, infrastructure follows
development (please spare me the "we are a democracy"
refrain). When rural Indians start using the Tata Nano
-given Indian creativity they will soon use it to carry
farm produce and milk cans to village mandis, to visit
relatives or city malls-they will demand better roads
and better facilities and the situation will improve.
Road safety is obviously a concern, with or without
the Tata Nano. The way to improve safety is not by beating
our chests about more cars on the road, but by having
the police enforce law. A recent sting operation seems
to indicate that New Delhi's Blueline buses are responsible
for deaths almost on a daily basis, because the drivers
are being allowed to get away. The recent move to make
drunken driving a criminal offence is certainly a step
in the right direction, provided it is enforced. To
say that road safety will deteriorate because the Tatas
might build a million more cars, is disingenuous.
The critics who probably are all comfortably middle
class, with pet projects such as protesting some trees
being cut by the Metro, don't seem to understand the
aspirations of the people. We all want to have electricity
and running water and flushes. We all want to upgrade
from bicycles to motorcycles and now to Nanos. We all
want our children to get quality education.
Yes, part of that aspiration should also be to leave
the world a better place for our children. But to the
man who is starving, the priority is to get a job to
feed his family, to have a roof over his head and to
be able to educate his children.
With education will come a better understanding of
the preservation of the environment-an example of this
is the reduction in firecrackers during Diwali in New
Delhi because of schoolchildren getting educated about
the ill effects. This is the path which the developed
world has gone through-remember the Industrial Revolution
or the corruption of New York's Tammany Hall era. This
does not mean that one condones the destruction of the
environment in the interest of development. There has
to be a balance between the two. It should not be one
at the cost of the other.
To Ratan Tata and his team, I say well done, and wish
you the best of luck for your new dream of providing
filtered water to the masses at an affordable price.
Avinder Bindra
(Avinder Bindra is CEO of Arx Analytics and Advisory
Pvt. Ltd, a financial research and consulting firm.)
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