By IANS
Chennai : If India Inc wants to remain competitive in the global market, it has to focus on understanding the customers and providing the required products or services, said R. Seshasayee, managing director, Ashok Leyland Ltd.
Inaugurating the Madras Management Association’s (MMA) Annual Convention 2008, here Friday, Seshasayee said: “Trying to find a market for a ready-made product is not feasible anymore as there are players who identify the gaps in the customer’s value perception and fill that.”
Multinational companies (MNCs) delivered products or services according to the respective market needs, he said adding that cost competitiveness did not mean having cheap labour.
Labour arbitrage would soon vanish and if Indian companies wanted to survive they had to focus on cutting waste in all their process and be innovative, Seshasayee said.
Addressing the gathering, Subodh Bhargava, chairman of Videsh Sanchar Nigam Ltd (VSNL), called upon the Indian corporate leaders to focus on inclusive growth.
According to Hari Rajagopalachari, partner, PricewaterhouseCoopers India (PWC), the three discontinuities that would impact the global economic scenario are currency, energy and financial markets.
With the US dollar depreciating against all major currencies, a true multi-currency scene is emerging as countries are re-denominating their treasury bill portfolios, he added. .
Rajagopalachari said the situation at the energy front is also very dicey as 65 percent of the US energy need was dependent on hydrocarbon.
India and China are now competing for the same resource while supply is not matching the demand.
“Iran, Russia and Venezuela are not keen on supplying to the US after the Iraq invasion,” he said.
The government’s policy initiatives should be aimed at insulating the Indian financial markets from short-term shocks, looking at alternate energy sources. It should opt for long-term structural adjustments relating to global currencies.
However, he added that the effects of US financial markets on India would be minimal.
Ravi Bhamidipati, executive director of PWC, said the downside of the US economy would offer stronger opportunities for India than China.
He also said nations would resort to trade restrictions and protectionism to protect their industries and jobs.