Here is how Prabhakara Rao beat seed giant Monsanto through Hindu influence

The fight led by M Prabhakara Rao against global seed giant Monsanto Co erupted in 2015

The fight led by M Prabhakara Rao, the head of Nuziveedu Seeds Ltd, against global seed giant Monsanto Co erupted in 2015. What at first looked like a David-and-Goliath showdown – Monsanto’s $15 billion of sales that year were roughly 80 times that of the firm headquartered in the south India city of Hyderabad – quickly became an example of how the rules of doing business have changed under Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Late 2016 – The costs of the battle have shown up in Monsanto’s bottom line. In its 2016 annual report, the company says its sales of seeds and genetic traits for cotton have dropped by 16 percent, or $83 million, in the fiscal year ending August.

MAY 2016 – The Indian government passes a measure that will essentially force firms like Monsanto to hand over genetically modified crop technology to any qualified Indian firm that applies for it. After lobbying by the U.S. ambassador to India, the measure is frozen.

MARCH 2016 – India’s junior agriculture minister at the time Sanjeev Balyan tells Reuters that Monsanto is free to leave India: “We're not scared if Monsanto leaves the country.”

MARCH 2016 – With its setbacks mounting, in particular government recommendations to reduce the amount paid for its seed technology, Monsanto says it will have to “reevaluate every aspect of our position in India.”

DECEMBER 2015 – The agriculture ministry then informs India’s upper house of parliament that “allegations of monopolistic practices” by Monsanto’s joint venture in India have been referred for investigation to the Competition Commission of India.

DECEMBER 2015 – With the relationship between Rao and Monsanto unraveling, India’s agriculture ministry, headed by a lifelong RSS member, steps into the fray. The first big move is an announcement of a cotton seed price regime.

NOVEMBER 2015 – As tensions increase, Monsanto’s joint venture in India sends a notice to Rao’s company that it is terminating their agreement. At the time, Monsanto says, Nuziveedu owes almost 1.4 billion rupees, or more than $20 million.

JULY 2015 – A group of nine seed companies, including Nuziveedu, writes to Monsanto’s joint venture in India saying they want to renegotiate the fees they pay. Their reasoning: some state courts have set the amounts that can be charged for seeds. The companies, in turn, want to reduce the fees they pay Monsanto.

In August, the National Seed Association of India, an organization of which Rao is the president, writes to the director of Monsanto’s joint venture in India and makes a similar argument. The director responds that such contracts are bilateral and that they should approach Monsanto directly. Among those he cc’s: Rao.

JUNE 2015 – Only about three months after renewing his contract, Rao chooses to push his demand for a 10 percent cut in royalties he pays for Monsanto’s technology. Monsanto representatives tell one of his executives at a meeting in Mumbai that the answer is no. According to a subsequent letter sent to India’s agriculture ministry by Monsanto’s joint venture, the executive threatened there would be “consequences” for that decision.

APRIL 2015 – Rao is poised to make tens of millions of dollars by taking his company public. In a prospectus for taking  Nuziveedu Seeds public, the first item under risk factors is the possibility that his company could lose its agreements with Monsanto, brokered through its local joint venture. But there was something that wasn’t spelt out in the prospectus: India’s newly powerful right-wing factions, under the organisational umbrella of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), or “national volunteer organization,” are suspicious of foreign influence and voice particular disdain for large international corporations. Like Monsanto. That gives Rao an opening. Even with the risk to his IPO, Rao makes a decision: He is going to take on Monsanto.