We are working with the power industry all over the world. We are meeting customers in aerospace and getting them to tour our plants.
Fundamentally, we have broken our aerospace business into three parts - large parts which go into the wings and fuselage, components for jet engines, and specialised structural components for landing gear.
Import and substituting imports with domestic production are a big opportunity. With a devaluation of the rupee, imports get expensive, and for Indian manufacturers, this creates a huge opportunity.
The Indian business has largely grown on the back of exports. The domestic markets, as far as our Indian business is concerned, actually have contracted because of the contraction in the medium and heavy commercial vehicle space.
In 2006, the global economy was doing well. In India, the political and economic situation was stable. All key macroeconomic indicators reflected an economy that was in robust good health.
One of the criteria for a global company is that it should have a manufacturing presence in multiple countries and should not only be an exporter.
The period from 2002 to 2007 was probably our best period. We created a strategy to build global scale, footprints in each of the geographies and dramatically built our international business.
When I returned from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1972, my father was running a forging business with a turnover of Rs 3.5 crore. But I had no patience and wanted to grow the business via exports.
We anticipate countries increasing their spending on infrastructure like railways, airports, power plants and ports. Our heavy forging plant has the capacity to cater to each of these segments.
I had the option of building a career in the U.S. Many of my friends who went at the time did not come back, but for me, building the family business and being with family was worth it. I became a general manager within four months, as I used my education to improve productivity and output.
I have what is probably the largest big bike collection in the city: a Fat Boy, a sportser Harley Davidson and two Yamahas. All these are 1200cc-plus bikes. Riding these bikes is something I still do and some trekking as well.
There is a feeling within our system that defence equipment can't be made here and should be imported. I wanted to break this myth, so we spent our money and made a product to prove we have capability in this country, so don't just brush us aside.
We have got into Indian railways and are trying to get into the railway locomotive business in Europe and the United States.
Bofors was a steelmaker that became a forgings company and then went on to build guns. Companies like Krupp and Thyssen were in steel and forgings before entering defence. There are similar examples in the U.K.; it is a natural progression.
Subsidies on petroleum products and fertilizers should be phased out in a defined, time-bound manner. The resources that would get freed up could then be used to fund various social sector programmes in education, healthcare and other priority sectors.
The commodity price easing really does not play too much role in our margins because our basic raw material - steel - is not really a commodities engineering steel.
I am a self-taught water skier and wind surfer.
Our strategy should be based on indigenisation and import substitution. The government must provide opportunities for domestic companies to participate in sectors in which the country continues to depend on imports.
At the Bangalore air show, we got a contract from Boeing for supplying structural components, and we are already supplying jet engine components to Rolls Royce. Both these are titanium-based, not steel components.
