By Amy DerBedrosian

Public perception equates India with information technology. But this view of the country is far too narrow, as a senior executive with one of India’s oldest and most respected business conglomerates made clear during a recent visit to UC Berkeley.

“The world thinks we might well have a billion people in software … When you read what some of the world’s financial commentators are writing, you may conclude that India is an IT wonder but has ‘lost’ to China in all other respects,” noted R. (“Gopal”) Gopalakrishnan, the executive director of Tata Sons, chairman of Rallis India, and vice chairman of Tata Chemicals who came to the campus at the invitation of the College of Letters and Science.

In contrast to what many believe about his country, Gopal said, “After centuries of impoverishment and losing share in the prosperity market, India is returning to the center stage.”

To illustrate the point, Gopal pointed to the manufacturing sector and the growth of his own companies’ umbrella organization — the Tata Group — and other corporations in India. The country’s automakers are thriving. India is home to some of the world’s largest optical media and motorcycle manufacturers. Its pharmaceutical industry is the world’s fourth largest in volume. The largest manufacturer of laminated tubes is in India. The list goes on.

Furthermore, Indian companies are increasing their presence overseas. Gopal cited the statistics: International acquisitions grew from in number from 41 to 143 and in value from $221 million to $3.38 billion between 2001 and 2005. In the past six years, the Tata Group alone spent nearly $3 billion on businesses in other countries, from Tetley Tea in Great Britain and Daewoo in Korea to network operator Tyco and the management of New York’s Pierre Hotel in the United States.  Tata currently operates 96 diverse companies on six continents and has nearly 250,000 employees.

“In the last 15 years, India’s entrepreneurial gene has been refreshed, and the vigorous effects are visible all around,” Gopal said. “Entrepreneurial behavior is contagious.”

Still, the misconceptions are understandable. As Gopal emphasized, India is in many ways a country of paradoxes. The country is poor, but the savings rate is high. Although India lags in food production, households are spending a smaller percentage of their income on food. What much of the world considers traditional, “old economy” industries — steel, cement, soda ash — in India are emerging and vital. The service industry is robust, but debate about land and agricultural reform has yet to begin. And, whereas most capitalist countries first develop economically first and a legal system and democracy follows, he noted, “In India, we got full franchise democracy first, in 1947. Capitalism was suppressed until the 1990s. It is arguable whether we have a responsive legal system even now!”

Gopal believes that India can sustain its surprising growth and financial stability even if it still isn’t ready to match China in economic power. He views his country’s output in education — 25 percent of the world’s engineers and as many business school graduates as in the United States — as a reason for confidence.

“The best compare with the best in the world,” he said. “A heady brew is concocted when entrepreneurship and knowledge come together.”

Combining the respective knowledge of businesses and educational institutions also appeals to UC Berkeley and the University of California as a whole. Gopal’s presentation and presence were part of their larger effort to explore and strengthen collaborations between the campus and major corporations around the world, including those in India. The Berkeley campus’s expertise in alternative energy is of particular interest to Gopal personally and to Tata, which already has research partnerships in place with several universities and is considering selectively increasing these partnerships.
 
“We have much to offer as well as gain by partnering with corporations both in the United States and internationally,” says L&S Executive Dean Mark Richards, whose college is at the forefront of Berkeley’s outreach efforts. “Our success in forming and sustaining these collaborations promises broader benefits as well — to the environment, the economy, health, education, and other areas — in California, this country, and around the world.”