When Vahan is priority like Bijli, Sadak, Paani

The precarious financial health of the government at the time did not allow India to grow at a fast pace. We would not have lagged behind the rest of the world if the British had left the economy in better shape. Hence, India continued to be a closed economy for decades after independence, and economic growth was slow for years.

Despite all that, the country even in those days could produce scientists and engineers of caliber. We established world class technical and management institutions, medical colleges and hospitals, built dams, national highways, nuclear reactors and research institutions in various parts of the country.

To me, therefore, when we talk of India empowered, we should draw our inspirations from the common Indians who had the courage and vision to withstand the traumatic days following partition. We, as a country, not only survived those days, but emerged stronger to compete with the best in the world, and achieve success in various fields.

The achievements of those days would look small compared to the pace with which the western world progressed during that time, unless we look at our achievements with this perspective. Personally, I have lived through those days to understand what odds the country was up against. Sitting on the lawns outside Parliament House on August 15, 1947, I witnessed the Union Jack come down and the Indian tricolor go up—a moment I will cherish forever. But the next few months were the most traumatic times of my life, as I experienced first-hand the horrors of partition.

Thankfully, today’s generation is much better-off. For the benefit of them, I would try to articulate what India for the future would mean to me. In the 1970s, India’s development needs at the micro level were succinctly summarized in a catchy slogan: roti, kapda aur makaan. In recent years, another slogan has been coined—bijli, sadak aur paani; this ostensibly seeks to capture India’s economic priorities as it tries to integrate with the rest of the world.

It astonishes me why the word vahan (transport) is missing from these important themes. And I am not saying this as a two-wheeler manufacturer, but as someone who has grown up in small towns with hardly any mode of public transport. In a country like India with a population of over one billion, the right to own one’s own mode of transport should be a legitimate right. That’s because for many in India today, owing a personal vehicle—whether it is a cycle, a scooter, a motorcycle, a tractor, a truck or a car is not just a vital mode of transport but an important convenience, a means of livelihood and an expression of economic freedom.

To understand why this is vital in a country like India, let’s look at India’s urban transport system. Even in developed countries, people without their own modes of transport tend to struggle. But in countries like US, UK and Singapore and many others, people at the bottom end of the economic pyramid are at least guaranteed a efficient and streamlined public transport system. This enables the people to utilize their valuable time on productive work.

Transport demand in most Indian cities has increased substantially, due to increases in population as a result of growing migration from rural areas and smaller towns. Yet, the public transport system in most Indian cities is in a mess. A study conducted by IIT Kanpur some years back revealed that dedicated city bus services operated only in 17 cities and rail transit existed only in 4 out of 35 cities with population in excess of one million.

This accentuates the importance of private transportation. What does it mean for us in the transport business? Without doubt, given the vast disparities of income, it is imperative to be able to create and deliver value all along the transport chain. In other words, we should be able to offer products that are affordable and accessible. This is a lesson that we in the Hero Group have had to learn. And we are still learning the hard way as we’ve evolved from making bi-cycles to motorcycles, and diversify into areas like IT etc.

Today, we might be India’s largest maker of bicycles and motorcycles yet we’ve still barely scratched the tip of the surface in terms of market penetration. In spite of the fact that cycles are India’s cheapest mode of personalized transport, annual sales of bicycles are pegged at only around 11 million. Likewise, the auto industry derives much pride from the fact that the two-wheeler industry crossed sales of six million in the last financial year. Yet in a country of one billion people, these are not figures that we should be proud of. Clearly, we need to set our priorities right.

Private transportation is no substitute for public transportation; it can never be. But till India’s public transportation systems—be in rural and urban India—become a viable option, it is critical to make private transport more accessible and affordable to India’s masses. Of course, as the head of a two-wheeler company, I am interested to see that this happens, but there’s also a strong national interest. To my mind, you can give someone food, you can give him clothes, and you can even give him a roof above his head, but if he or she does not have access to his or her own mode of transport to reach the workplace, the person will never be fully empowered.

Broadly in the Indian economy, however, there are encouraging trends as well. The economy has more than doubled in real terms since reform began, in 1991. The commitment to the reform process by successive governments at the centre has helped ensure healthy growth. Our thriving and young middle class is also fuelling consumer demand. All these factors have made the rest of the world to sit up and look at India as an investment destination.

On the other hand, for the vast majority of India’s 1.1 billion people—more than a quarter of whom live in poverty—even such transformative growth can’t come fast enough. The burgeoning services sector, for example, accounted for more than half of the country’s GDP in 2003 but employs fewer than one quarter of its workers. Some two-thirds of all Indians work in agriculture, where growth is slow and prospects are limited.

India is just not about its cities. The real India lives beyond the cities and urban landscapes. We must ask ourselves whether we have even been able to provide roti, kapda aur makan to the teeming millions living in our villages? Why do we ignore the little children in dusty clothes begging at traffic signals in our cities? To that extent, isn’t this slogan of the 70’s still valid in 2005? If India lives in its villages, then it is the responsibility of all of us to make that real India—empowered. And it needs will power, vision and commitment to achieve that.