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Journalism of Courage
I am special, face it. Never before has there been so much acrimony in the government over the sale of a PSU/joint venture as there has been in my case. Okay, maybe Petroleum Minister Ram Naik has managed to stall the sale of several of his PSUs as well but, in my case, it almost split the government. The Shiv Sena was violently opposed to the sale 8212; it wanted to hand me over to a particular industrialist 8212; and that8217;s why former Industry Minister Manohar Joshi, of the Sena, kept the requisite file with him for as long as possible.
But what is it that makes me so special? Is it the fact that despite the entry of the luscious Korean twins, Daewoo and Hyundai 8212; one of whom collapsed unceremoniously last year 8212; close to 60 per cent of the Indians who buy cars still find mine the most attractive? Or is that after making a huge loss two years ago 8212; Rs 269 crore no less 8212; I managed to lose so much flab last year, I ended up making a profit of Rs 55 crore?
It8217;s all of this but something more. No other company that I can think of has had so many cases registered against its top executives. Okay, there is ITC, but that was different. Those charges were serious. In my case, they were mostly frivolous. One case, for instance, was filed against the man who assisted in my birth 8212; I8217;m talking of V. Krishnamurthy and not the late Sanjay Gandhi, as some would have you believe 8212; alleging he had favoured a particular supplier of shock absorbers. Well, guess what, the case was dismissed by the court last week because the CBI was not able to provide even prima facie evidence of guilt eight years down the line.
In another case, my former CMD, R.C. Bhargava, was charged with favouring a supplier by awarding a transport contract while bypassing the tender process. That8217;s true. Bhargava did not go by the tender. But that8217;s because he negotiated a contract a fifth cheaper than any of the bids he had got. The matter, in fact, was even examined by the Comptroller and Auditor General, and even he dropped it. Yet, the CBI filed a case.
Bhargava, you see, had fallen foul of my father 8212; the government 8212; and was paying for this. I remember, at one point, one of my father8217;s ministers wanting a dealership to be given to a friend, another wanted a heated swimming pool at his residence, and so on. What all this proves, of course, is that despite my quasi-PSU status, I was run like a private firm, and that8217;s why I did so well.
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What is it that makes me so special? Is it because close to 60 per cent of Indians who buy cars still find mine the most attractive? Or because I made a profit of Rs 55 crore last year?
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People sometimes claim that it was the late Sanjay Gandhi who created me. I want to set the record straight on this score 8212; he did little. At that early stage I was privately-owned and called Maruti Limited. After he died, the directors wanted to sell off the assets 8212; the land and buildings. That8217;s when Sanjay8217;s mother, Indira Gandhi, used government money to buy back my assets, took charge of me, renamed me Maruti Udyog Limited, and nominated Krishnamurthy to find me a mother.
What helped me considerably, of course, was the competition 8212; the Birla-Doshis, who produced those unattractive Ambassadors and Fiats of yore. But Bhargava insists that it was Indira Gandhi who was the real reason for my success. Since I was seen as her baby, no minister ever dared to treat me like they did a run-of-the-mill PSU. When Krishnamurthy was searching for a suitable mother for me, for instance, he had identified Volkswagen first. The government even okayed this. There was a hitch and he started negotiations with Daihatsu. The government okayed this as well. Finally, it worked with the Suzuki Motor Company.
Of course, as a result of my success, I grew fat and flabby. The men in charge of me, the dealers and vendors, turned slothful. It didn8217;t help that, a little while before this, my parents8217; marriage hit a bad patch. For two years they kept bickering and couldn8217;t even take a decision on how I was to be overhauled in terms of manufacturing engines for new models and that sort of thing.
The managing director called R.S.S.L.N. Bhaskaruddu and an arrogant union leader, called Mathew Abraham, ensured that I remained neglected, fat, flabby. Finally, Abraham was packed off last year. Today, lo and behold, I8217;m looking good again although I overheard my Japanese mother telling a journalist that while I was good, I wasn8217;t a patch on her Japanese children at Hamamatsu. Which is why, for instance, she doesn8217;t allow me to really enter the European market 8212; except for the Zen and the Alto models.
Divorce is especially painful for the children, I8217;ve been told, but now that my mother8217;s got full custody after paying my father a huge settlement, I think these issues concerning my competitiveness will get sorted out. Problem is, she8217;s a real disciplinarian, even a tyrant. And while she says it8217;s a tough world out there, I8217;m not too certain my still flabby body can take all the tension. For that, we8217;ll have to wait and see.
Illustrations by Ajit Kumar
