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G. Ramachandran

For while the tired waves, vainly breaking,

Seem here no painful inch to gain,

Far back, through creeks and inlets making,

Comes silent, flooding in, the main.

— Arthur Hugh Clough, Say not the struggle naught availeth.

ONE determined man delivered during the day what he dreamt when the night was dark. He, the son of a schoolteacher, went beyond narrow pedagogy so that there could be broad and intense practice. The father taught at a local school in Gujarat, but the arena for the son's practice extended beyond the parish. The assets, the products, the jobs, the equity shares, the cash flows and the opportunities for regeneration and growth created by the son are all part of the nation's economic and social fabric.

They were intended to be part of India's fabric by one determined man, Dhirajlal Hirachand Ambani, who inspired himself and his team to work towards creating them. The assets, the jobs, the cash flows and the opportunities for regeneration and growth will always be part of India's economic strengths because Dhirubhai intended most earnestly that they should belong to India.

But he had to fight, struggle and swim against the current even while he created the assets and jobs, and the cash flows to households and the exchequer. He had to suffer negative criticism for a considerable period of his life that is best described as a series of path-breaking efforts aimed at utilising, stirring, seeding and spawning economic activity.

Dhirubhai's efforts matched those of the best business analysts, corporate planners and technologists of the developed world's textile, chemical, petrochemical and petroleum refining industries. He re-engineered each of these industries within the national economy and along the way made it possible for commoners to own a part of the superbly crafted empire and brilliantly engineered cash flows. But he was a commoner and, therefore, had to have commoners as his principal allies; they have also turned out to be his principal beneficiaries.

His allies, the commoners, would have deserted him a long while ago if he had not enriched their lives and filled them with unprecedented financial security. He took the risks and the criticism while he created more wealth and cash flows for others than he did for himself. Though he was not the sole beneficiary of the businesses he built, he has been called crafty.

It has been said that business to him was not a morality play. His critics may produce a long list of such actions that may reinforce the view that he was crafty and that business to him was not a morality play. They have argued that Dhirubhai manipulated the system in order to forge ahead in his awe-inspiring businesses.

What his critics do not say is that the system made manipulation necessary in order to create opportunities for regeneration and growth in favour of the nation. It is a pity that working towards strengthening the economy should have been a struggle for Dhirubhai. It is a harsh reality that working towards earning a livelihood and, thus, towards strengthening the economy is an enervating struggle for commoners. What his critics do not see is that the system awes and manipulates commoners into stoic submission and into real, but unwarranted poverty.

Dhirubhai stoutly refused to be intimidated, awed and manipulated into submission and the poverty of commoners. His critics should be happy that at least one commoner did not get enervated by the system which they say he manipulated. If he had manipulated the system to destroy it and, thereby, create wealth for himself, commoners would not have wished for a thousand Dhirubhais in India. Dhirubhai played to win, but each of the plays belonged to the set of win-win strategies that created positive outcomes. He has made an enduring impact on the commoners' relationship with politics, government, corporate organisation, and the future.

Commoners and politics

Political activity in a democracy is essentially aimed at allowing common people to have an impact on how they are governed and how their aspirations could be better achieved through communication with politicians. Commoners have little say in other forms of governance and societal organisations, but are said to be the masters in a democracy. Dhirubhai was quite clearly a master at communicating with politicians because he firmly believed that politicians were an integral part of a democratic society and polity.

He believed that politicians and the commoner had a joint responsibility to engage in continuous dialogue. He thought that communication could have a useful and joint impact on how everyone is governed and how their aspirations could be better achieved. Dhirubhai was unafraid of dialogue and making an impact because he took his role as a commoner seriously and firmly trusted that politicians could be trusted to take care of the needs of society. In short, he trusted democracy so much that he has made politicians more approachable and more sensitive to commoners.

Commoners and government

Governance in a democracy is aimed essentially at translating the mandate of commoners into policies and activities that would have a favourable impact on the lives of commoners. The world began to make rapid progress after 1973. Nations such as China began to challenge the entrenched economic powers with deft moves since 1977 and used their economic management policies to make an impact on global trade.

Despite a well-tested electoral process, India was struggling in the late 1970s and the early 1980s with archaic economic policies and laws. These policies and laws had to be changed and they would be after a decade. However, Dhirubhai saw the need to make an immediate impact on some policies that were certain to have a lasting impact on India's competitiveness. If they had not been impacted upon then, many of the benefits of policy would have been forfeited. He made an impact without disturbing the general policy of dominance by the public sector and licensed activity by the private sector.

The electorate and the bureaucracy ratified his initiatives a decade later. Along the way, he has made the government and the bureaucracy more approachable and more sensitive to commoners. The government and the bureaucracy have become sensitive to the needs of a modern economy.

Ambani, born with an MBA

India has for centuries been a throbbing laboratory for the conduct of myriad capitalistic businesses. Some have conformed to the corporate form of organisation, but most have been small partnerships and proprietorships. Corporate entities evolved very slowly despite their economic and social properties. They facilitate the effective management of big, unwieldy and risky, businesses. They spread risk. They enable the funding of businesses that would not be otherwise invested in because of their size, complexity and riskiness.

Dhirubhai accelerated the evolution of the corporate organisation in India. He did not go to graduate business school but acted with surefootedness in the context of understanding the numerous advantages of the corporate form of business organisation. He went on to exploit its principal capabilities to successfully pursue complex businesses that could not be pursued otherwise.

Mr Jairam Ramesh, an independent-minded official of the Congress(I) party, observed scathingly that "India is the only country in the world which has bypassed industry" (The Economist, May 31, 2001). But Dhirubhai had raced ahead to catch up with the advances in chemical technology and instrumentation. He had mastered the art of managing large projects. It was as if he was born with an MBA. The world's largest single-point petroleum refinery is situated in India and Dhirubhai conceived it. His mastery over complex projects and complex corporate processes has inspired others, such as ICICI, Infosys, Satyam, Tata Sons and Wipro to confront size, complexity and riskiness boldly.

Commoners and the future

Despite the fact that India has for centuries been a throbbing laboratory for the conduct of capitalistic businesses, its affluent households, by and large, earn their incomes from government, government departments and public sector undertakings. A job in government or the public sector has been the commoner's route to economic security and prosperity. Commoners with a job in the private sector have had to make do with a fifth of the modal income offered by the government and the public sector. But there are not many jobs in government and in the public sector because they depend on tax flows from an emaciated private sector. When the private sector is emaciated, government and the public sector would be emaciated too.

Dhirubhai broke that vicious cycle by inspiring many clones of his business and by inspiring many commoners to take to entrepreneurship with enthusiasm. He has inspired hope among ordinary people that they too can succeed because politics, politicians, government and the bureaucracy can be trusted to be responsive to the needs of commoners. He has added substance and certainty to the struggles of ordinary people.

(The author is a financial analyst. Feedback may be sent to indiagrow@sify.com)

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