Ticket to Ride

‘We are a first-rate people in a third-rate system.’ Bajaj used this quote in an article for this newspaper’s ‘India Empowered’ series. Now, the 68-year-old chairman of Bajaj Auto has a chance to do something about ‘the system’ at the highest level. And unlike a corporate chieftain who recently found the Rajya Sabha too hot to handle, Bajaj, who comes from a family with a rich Gandhian past, should have a smoother ride.

The stage has been set. After 30 years at the helm at Bajaj Auto—practically from 1972, when his father passed away, a moment he rates as the most significant in his life—Bajaj has passed on the baton to his sons Rajiv and Sanjiv. While the transfer may have happened as recently as a couple of months ago, in reality the company is being ably run by the fourth generation for some time now.

Sure, there are niggling issues that Bajaj Sr still has to sort out, like the family settlement with brother Shishir Bajaj. But, by and large, the Harvard-educated industrialist has already moved to a larger, elder statement role for corporate India. Bajaj is now a permanent fixture at industry fora, from Davos downwards, and always, always has a view on major industry issues.

BAJAJ is still best remembered for the Bombay Club, domestic industry’s reaction to the first flush of liberalisation. Domestic industry did chalk up some victories then, but could only postpone the inevitable. Bajaj Auto itself had to go through a painful transformation, to a stage where it is currently growing faster than rival Hero Honda. And is now looking more like a multinational with a distribution network in 50 countries, from Iran to Peru.

With Indian consumers definitely better off thanks to competition, it would seem that the old debate of Us versus Them doesn’t, and shouldn’t, matter anymore. But here, Bajaj’s views remain unchanged. Be it multinationals delisting from the stock exchanges to free trade agreements, Bajaj is vocally against many government policies in the name of that level-playing field.

Free trade agreements is one such sensitive issue where Bajaj has taken on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who has been pushing for greater economic cooperation with ASEAN and China. Singh has gone on record to say that Corporate India’s reluctance to accept the reality of FTAs smacks of the very same opposition to his economic liberalisation in the 1990s.

Corporate India has been arguing that the FTAs have all to do with diplomatic and strategic considerations — and hardly economic. As India Inc negotiates negative lists with the government, Bajaj will be an important ally. Particularly, as the contours of an economic agreement with China is being worked out.

Another sensitive issue is Corporate India’s social responsibilities. With pressure building up, an action plan is to be unveiled soon. Bajaj, a firm believer in corporate social responsibility and the need for ‘doing more’, will also play a role during this delicate dialogue. And though the issue of private sector reservations appears to be on the backburner for now, his animus on the issue is well known. It’s just the kind of topic that will get Bajaj to launch one of his many quotable quotes.