When Mr. Ratan Tata expressed his intention for the first time about making a people’s car which would cost just one lakh, his critics mocked at him calling his idea as naïve. They even went to the extent of saying that in a minuscule amount of one lakh, car may be designed with curtains in place of doors. Now when the car is ready to be launched on Jan 10th at Auto Expo in New Delhi, they have not relented yet and tonnes of stuff are written calling the car as polluting device and one that will increase congestion on roads. Interestingly, his critics comprise not only media men and politicians but competitors and learned men like Osama Suzuki, Chief Suzuki and Jagdish Khattar, MD Maruti. I just don’t understand why everybody is after Mr. Tata’s life. In the write up that follows, I have tried my best to answer all the questions raised by critics of one lakh people’s car.

When RNT joined JRD’s camp, he was handed over the charge of some of the worst performing companies of TATA group namely Empress Mills and Nelco which were loss making. When he turned around these companies, even then the critics turned their back against Mr. Tata and this time not give any credit for turnaround and blaming him for not generating enough profit. Later when Jeh handed over the charge of TATA group to RNT in 1991, it was once again publicized as grave mistake on Jeh’s part. Seventeen years has passed since Ratan took over the charge and I am sure that his critics are not left with a single doubt that there could not have been a better successor than Ratan Tata for the group. Even Jeh must be rejoicing his decision which was strongly opposed when he made Ratan Tata his successor. If critics are still having doubt about Mr. Tata’s capability to run the show, let’s take a look at his recent achievements – It was under his guidance that two years back, TATA Tea acquired Tetley to become the second largest seller of tea in the world. Biggest ever overseas acquisition by an Indian company, which made TATA steel the fifth largest producer of steel in the world must be still afresh in everybody’s mind. TATA Chemicals acquired Brunner Mond in 2005 to become third largest soda ash producer in the world. It was under his lordship that TATA Motors which is fifth biggest commercial vehicle producer in the world acquired Daewoo Commercial Vehicle in 2003. When all the IT companies including the behemoth Infosys are struggling to maintain their margin, last quarter it was only TCS which declared a smart rise in operational margin while other peers like Infosys and Wipro could not bear the burnt of rising rupee. I hope his critics are aware that TCS is the biggest IT Company in Asia when they make comments doubting the credibility of Ratan Tata. Indian Hotels acquired Ritz Carton recently and is also looking to spread its footprint across the globe. The credit for taking TATA group to the world entirely goes to Ratan Tata and his team and it has reached a stage where ~ 50% of the revenue of the group can be attributed to business from abroad. If still not satisfied, you may be thrilled to know that TATA group is the leader in UK in steel, tea, chemicals, hotels, and IT industry and close to 16% revenue of the group comes from UK.

Coming back to the hot topic, RNT’s dream project – people’s one lakh car, as the name suggest is targeted towards the common man and not for the one’s who ride Mercedes, BMW, Ferrari or the likes of Limousine. On the one hand, we talk about a growth which is ‘all inclusive’ and on the other hand, one lakh car which is to bridge the gap between vehicle owners and the lower strata of the society who cannot afford any vehicle is criticized strongly in media. Critics eat up their own idea of inclusive growth when they speak against this unique achievement of TATA group. Interesting and astonishing fact is that the car is opposed by those who call themselves the caretaker of inclusive growth. The ‘inclusive growth story’ gels well with one lakh car and needless to say, majority of consumers would be those who are still waiting to buy their first car and not the one who already own a car. Isn’t it all about inclusive growth? The preachers of ‘inclusive growth’ are not justified when they are opposing one lakh car which would further push their propaganda of ‘inclusive growth’.

They say that a car which is so cheap and affordable for common man will increase congestion on the already bleeding traffic. I feel this is the most absurd and illogical reason posed by critics. I hope critics would agree to the fact that whether we sell a Mercedes or one lakh car, it means the same for traffic congestion. They are not even clear whether it is traffic congestion or one lakh car which is centre of their opposition. I agree that a car which comes in $2500 will definitely increase traffic on roads but this does not mean that Ratan Tata or his one lakh people’s car is to be blamed for it. If we are so worried about congestion issues, we should build better transport and infrastructure rather than standing against something which is a unique achievement by India. If my memory serves me right, our Finance Minister reduced the excise duty on small car two years back, encouraging the production of small cars in India. Where were our critics when Finance Minister expressed his intention of making India a small car hub?

The beauty of one lakh car lies in the fact that, world over companies like Volkswagen, Eicher, Kinetic, Renault and many other Japanese companies are struggling to produce a low cost car but none of them are able to breach the 100K mark. So, when TATA Motors took this project, there was no benchmark or model which they could follow. The project had to be started from scratch and there were major concerns like safety, pollution, engine capacity and many other issues which had to be taken care of. It will cater to the needs of not only Indian market but across the globe as nowhere in world, a car can be produced at a cost as low as one lakh. There are speculations that TATA group has already entered into talks with Thailand for production of one lakh car in their country.

Entire world would be watching with their fingers crossed when Ratan (global) Tata would raise the curtains to unveil his dream project 48 hours from now at Delhi Auto Expo. I feel this is the time to stand up to this great creation and pay due credit to Ratan Tata and his team when he will unveil one lakh car which still remains a dream for his competitors. It would be very unjust on part of my critic friends, if they still feel there is no point to rejoice on this auspicious occasion. One lakh car is not the project of TATA group alone but it is the project of India which sent shivers down the spine of global conglomerates like Suzuki and Renault who are still struggling to produce something which is close to one lakh car. The car is a testimony to the fact that India has so much to offer to the world and we have equal competence to deliver something which can be adapted across the globe. People’s one lakh car is a tribute to Jeh and I hope he must be cherishing his decision to hand over the charge of the group to Ratan N Tata in 1991, when the world doubted the fire inside RNT.

Kudos to Ratan Tata & Team!

The author is working with TATA group.

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