The world does not know us as an industrial nation: Vinod Lalchand Doshi

Doshi: Indian engineers are among the bestAs chief executive of Walchandnagar Industries, the mechanical engineering end of the Walchand Group, Vinod Lalchand Doshi, a nephew of the legendary Walchand Hirachand, is used to dealing with massive overseas engineering projects from sugar mills in Tanzania to cement plants in Indonesia. A Michigan-trained engineer, Doshi, 48, who is chairman of the Trade Fair Committee of the Association of Indian Engineering Industry spoke to India Todayon the growing pains of an industry that is now responsible for a big chunk of our exports. Some excerpts:Q. There is a feeling that our engineering industry is too much dependent on imported technology. Is it true that our own R & D is negligible?A. These are two different matters. I do not know what you mean by 'dependent' - that way, Japan is also dependent on foreign technology and continues to borrow from them. Imports of technology must be viewed with an open mind and we should always have access to latest developments. Obsolescence in engineering is so high that once you are left behind, it is virtually impossible to catch up.One way of keeping abreast is through R&D. It does not necessarily produce new technology but it does help to keep up-to-date with what is happening elsewhere. Even the advanced industrial countries, are all the time importing technology - by importing machinery - and also exporting it. We should not have a complex about using technology developed elsewhere since everybody is doing it.Take our own case. We had a technical collaboration arrangement with Skoda, the Czech firm, for making sugar centrifugals. We improved upon their ideas and took out a patent on that which they are now using. A German firm has further improved on our idea and so it goes on. It is a continuing process.Q. The engineering industry has done pretty well and has also became a big exporter. Any particular reason?A. The main reason is that Indian engineers are among the best in the world. Go to America and you will find that some of them occupy top positions in universities as well as multinational corporations. They can pick up ideas easily but unfortunately conditions here are such that our energies are used up in small things - getting admission in school for children, getting gas cylinders and so on. If we can free them of these worries and provide a carefree working environment, we can achieve wonders.Q. How about exports? Are our products accepted abroad?A. The biggest problem in exports is that the world does not know us as an industrial nation. We just don't have the necessary image, the kind of image that Japan has. We should advertise more in the foreign press, hold exhibitions, show films and go about image building in a systematic way. Before the war, Japan had such a poor image - cheap bicycles and toys and second-rate stuff of that kind. Look how everybody envies Japan now. They say now that India will be in the next 10 years what Japan was (in electronics etc) in the '50s and '60s.Q. But we have been able to do pretty well in project exports.A. Yes, even in competition with Japan. My company won a contract worth Rs 16 crore for a sugar mill in Kagera, Tanzania, with a crushing capacity of 3,000 tonnes of cane a day, roughly three times the average size in India. It's a turnkey project and only a small proportion - about 2 per cent - of plant and equipment will come from outside. The rest will be designed and manufactured and shipped from here. We have also lost some contracts, mainly because of special credit terms given by our competitors.Q. Apart from credit support and other type of assistance, what do you expect from the Government?A. First, it should give up this tight-fisted approach to royalties. It seems to be very allergic to royalties and this, in my view, is a very short-sighted policy. After all, if we are able to spend crores of rupees on equipment imports, why not be a little more generous on technology imports.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Nov 26, 2013 14:59 IST--- ENDS ---

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The world does not know us as an industrial nation: Vinod Lalchand Doshi

As chief executive of Walchandnagar Industries, the mechanical engineering end of the Walchand Group, Vinod Lalchand Doshi, a nephew of the legendary Walchand Hirachand, is used to dealing with massive overseas engineering projects from sugar mills in Tanzania to cement plants in Indonesia.

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