‘Skilled workforce will help auto component makers go global’

Baba Kalyani drafted a global script for his company over a decade ago, when most others were content with their India business.

The Chairman and Managing Director of Bharat Forge, which has facilities in India, Europe and China, reiterated at the ACMA (Automotive Component Manufacturers Association of India) convention on Thursday that the sky was the limit for other players, too.

“The Indian component industry can become extremely competitive globally as we have the ability. We only need to get the right people, technology and create the capacity to innovate,” he said.

The auto sector is grappling with a slowdown and a depreciating rupee today. Kalyani spoke of the time his father faced similar challenges in the 1960s.

As he put it, “Nothing is linear; markets are different as also competitive forces.”

From Kalyani’s point of view, the fundamental problem boiled down to manpower, with most companies employing unskilled/casual labour. Cautioning that this was not the way forward, he said little could be achieved with an unskilled workforce and that it was important for them to be “highly educated”.

Imports

Kalyani insisted that India had its share of top-class technocrat entrepreneurs, some of whom were slightly better than their counterparts in Europe. The big difference, however, lies in the workforce.

Today, India imports nearly $14 billion worth of auto components and, contrary to common perception, only $2.5 billion comes from China.

The bulk comes from Europe (Germany, Italy and the Czech Republic) and Asia (South Korea and Thailand). In Kalyani’s view, replacing these imports would translate into enormous business potential for Indian auto-component makers.

However, not everyone agreed with the views of the Bharat Forge CMD. “It is very easy to talk of training our workforce. But we are dealing with archaic labour laws. Contract workers are a result of this problem,” said an ancillary supplier, speaking to Business Line .

The ACMA convention also saw Pawan Goenka, President of Mahindra & Mahindra’s automotive and farm equipment divisions, drive home the point that competitiveness could only come from innovation and not low-cost.

“Cutting edge technology innovations have not been happening for five years,” he said at a session.

Brand India

Ashok Taneja, MD & CEO of Shriram Pistons & Rings, felt it was high time there was a strong brand association with India’s auto sector. For instance, Germany is synonymous with top-class engineering while China is about mass manufacturing. “Quality at affordable costs should be Brand India,” said Taneja.

There was also near unanimity about the fact that India could no longer be linked to the low-cost advantage alone.

The way forward, as some speakers averred, should include a ruthless focus on quality and building an Indian brand without the low-cost tag.

After all, they noted, there is “reasonable respect” for Indian technologies worldwide and it was important to capitalise on this advantage.

Goenka also said that there is a need for greater passion about cars among people working in Indian automobile companies.

It was quite common to find some working in R&D divisions and yet unaware of driving, he said, pointing out that this is in sharp contrast to youngsters in the West, who are passionate about cars.

>murali.gopalan@thehindu.co.in

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