Ratan Tata calls for more co-operation & collaboration among Indian companies

He also urged the government and industries to collaborate in a more proactive manner

Emeritus chairman of the $100-billion Tata Sons, Ratan Tata, on Tuesday called for better co-operation and collaboration among sectors. He urged the government and industries to collaborate in a more proactive manner.

In his address after receiving MMA Amalgamations Business Leadership Award at Chennai he said the Indian business world seems to thrive unlike the spectrum of business people elsewhere in the world to  envy or to frown on success. "The net result is that we tend to pull each other down needlessly whereas in other countries you see business is pulling together," he said.

"In the years I have been in business, it has been extremely difficult to get 20 business leaders in a room, to move away from talking about their companies to taking a position on India as a whole and what they could do, or what they could provide to that new India," said Tata.

He asked how much collaboration between Indian companies was there against elsewhere in the world? "How many research activities do you see together between business leaders in India as against the world? So, in a manner of speaking, Industry in India has to be more compatible  with each other and more trusting and more collaborative than they have been. In that way I believe that Indian business could be proud of what they have achieved. That achievement may be better recognised than it is today and would move further down the path," he said.

"There should be no shame on leadership, there should be no shame on great success, the pride and happiness that this takes place in India. And then you go beyond the shores of India there is no reason to feel incapable of leading an enterprise outside India, provided you do the right thing and operate in the right value system.

"I think we have all the ingredients to do this, its our attitude of not giving due recognition to success," said Tata.

"Moving the country ahead means creating a nation that moves towards equality that gives equal opportunity for many people creates the prosperity levels of the people and stands out as a country in today's world of democracies as a nation that where good survives and evil somehow is controlled.

"Therefore government has the role of improving the infrastructure, creating environment for its people that gives them security, gives them safety, gives them the opportunity for growth based on meritocracy. Industry on the other hand, corporates have the role with their name and place . They have to be entrepreneurial, they have to generate the spirit that drives the country and business and corporate world have to exist side by side complementing each other, not conflicting, not infact defusing each other, but infact moving together to make the country rise. Whenever this has ceased to happen, nations have sort of tumbled economically, or moved to a direction of being dictators or banana republics or creating crony capitalism," Tata further added.