In his classic Discovery of India, Jawaharlal Nehru wrote: “Political change there must be, but economic change is equally necessary. That change will have to be in the direction of a democratically planned collectivism. The choice is not between competition and monopoly, but monopoly, which is irresponsible and private, and monopoly, which is responsible and public.” Following up on these thoughts, Nehru strategised India’s development process in terms of five-year plans and public sector companies to occupy the commanding heights of large-scale industrial units. By launching three integrated steel plants — Rourkela, Bhilai and Durgapur — in the first five-year plan, to produce about one million tonnes of steel each, Nehru laid the foundations of modern industrial India. The fascinating journey of the distinguished author, Prabhu Lal Agrawal, started at Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP).
What was Agrawal’s preparation for his journey through the uncharted territory of building a mammoth steel plant? His family values, his school at Udaipur, higher education at Banaras Hindu University (BHU) and his doctoral research experience at the University of Sheffield. He was fortunate to have experienced the presence of Madan Mohan Malaviya, the great founder of BHU, India’s first central university. He had entered the portals of the university in the year 1943 at a time when a whole nation, BHU all the more, was inspired by Mahatma Gandhi. The influence of holy Varanasi and encountering Malaviya at BHU cast him in an idealistic mould that prepared him in an extraordinary way for a career in the steel industry replete with formidable challenges.
Starting from Rourkela, Agrawal’s steel journey took him to Durgapur and Bokaro steel plants, the exalted office of chairman, SAIL, and Krakatau Steel Plant (KSP) in Indonesia before returning him to Udaipur. Clearly, he was a privileged contributor to the foundational era of large-scale modern industry in India.
He was involved in building RSP from scratch until its commissioning and thereafter its expansion. The RSP story, presented in chapters two and five, covers a spectrum of technical and managerial aspects. Among them are those pertaining to installing the new technology of oxygen steel-making which are of historical significance. He had gained firsthand experience in Voest works in Linz at a time when the inventor of the L-D (Linz-Donawitz) process was still there. It is also instructive how he improved matters in a loss-making KSP by highlighting to the Indonesian authorities that the plant personnel had been trained mainly in operating the plant but not in managing it.
A characteristic of Agrawal’s leadership that was central to his man management is reflected in the words of one of his senior colleagues: “While others talked academically about management development, Agrawal prepared master succession plans which he executed by picking the top performers and placing them on fast track !”
As SAIL chairman, he gave the highest priority to setting up a modern Research and Development Centre for the Iron and Steel (RDCIS) industry. According to him, “We should develop our own technology in India rather than abjectly be dependent on imported technology with no capacity even to improve upon it.” Insightfully, he adds: “Director RDCIS should enjoy a stature equal to that of the managing director of the steel plants. R&D activity, though not reflected directly in the tonnage production and financial results of SAIL, should be supported whole-heartedly at the chairman’s level.” After 30 years of the RDCIS, he has remarked that “there are still several problems which are of overall importance to the growing national iron and steel industry, and some type of mechanism must be devised to pursue these at the national level”. Indeed, one such mechanism, the Steel Research Development Mission (SRDM), was recently conceived by a task force headed by S K Gupta, formerly with the RDCIS. However, after several steps were taken to realise this freshly conceived mission, it is sad to record here that the SRDM was aborted!
Agrawal’s impeccable sense of loyalty to the nation and to the industry he helped build, and faithfulness to his family and community are pointedly reflected in the crucial decisions he made during his career. His decisions to return to India from Sheffield to teach at BHU, and later to be the chief at the troubled RSP, rather than at Bokaro, to forgo a lucrative offer of Indonesian authorities, and finally to go to his hometown rather than accept JRD Tata’s offer to succeed Russi Modi as chief of Tata Steel are all exemplary.
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In a style that is akin to that of a storyteller, he records how he sailed through periodic turbulence unscathed because of his steadfast adherence to what he perceived as the right course. Having put up a lustrous performance as a major industry leader and displayed extraordinary personal conduct, Agrawal emerges as a steel man for all seasons.
JOURNEY OF A STEEL MAN
P L Agrawal
Published by Dr P L Agrawal
243 pages; Rs 450