Mittal seeks state support to take on Chinese competition abroad

Says govt should look beyond PSUs for backing Indian enterprise

Facing stiff competition from Chinese companies abroad, India Inc believes there is a need for stronger government assistance to companies pursuing business interests in other countries.

Strong government support had been lacking in the past, while Chinese companies, with their government putting its might behind them, posed a stiff challenge to Indian companies in their foreign ventures, Bharti Enterprises Chairman Sunil Mittal said on Monday. "We face the might of the Chinese wherever we go," said Mittal. "We do not have the state support required to push the soft power of the Indian enterprise… We need to be bold and think beyond state-run companies."

Lack of adequate government support became an additional hurdle, especially when Chinese state companies' money power had to be matched, said Mittal, speaking at the India Global Forum hosted by the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Bharti's Airtel Africa offers telecom services in 17 countries. "We cannot match the amount of money the Chinese are putting in Africa. The good part is that we have a tremendous amount of goodwill; our relations have developed for over a century. Any leader of any standing in Ethiopia (for example) has been taught by Indian teachers," he said.

Mittal cited the example of Bangladesh, where issues like sharing of the Teesta river water and border disputes also affected business relations. "Businesses are affected to a large extent by the relations between states. Yet, we do not have the full extent of state support."

Sharing another experiences from the past, Mittal said when his company ventured into Sri Lanka, the government there was expecting an assistance of $100 million for a project. "I conveyed this to the Ministry of External Affairs and the Prime Minister's Office, but nothing moved after that. I could only convey. A few months later, China doled out $1 billion to Sri Lanka and that helped Chinese companies."

"Indian enterprises now have the benefit of scale... pushing forward frugal innovations, which are the need for emerging markets. There is a large workforce, though we do not have large balance sheets and the government's backing," he added.

However, Mittal - as well as Wockhardt Group Chairman Habil Khorakiwala, also present at the event - conceded the situation had somewhat changed with Indian missions now opening doors to private companies from the country and facilitating engagements abroad. In the past two years, Indian industry had been getting some respect, said Mittal.

Khorakiwala said the Indian pharma industry had transformed over the past few years. According to him, none in the emerging markets could match India's strength in terms of science manufacturing, quality of people and management, and the understanding of global markets.

Mittal added some positive changes were taking place under the new government but more needed to be done. "PM (Narendra Modi) is now making bold moves abroad. He asked us to introduce ourselves in Japan." But unlike foreign businessmen, who were made part of delegations when their ministers visited other countries, Indian businessmen were given a badge that said "coinciding with visit of the prime minister," he added. "I have asked senior officials to at least make it 'accompanying persons', if not delegates. We deserve some respect," Mittal said.