India

For the most part, Indian manufacturing companies still operate in a highly fragmented domestic market, with ever-tougher competition and ever-slimmer margins. As today's industrial markets turn increasingly global, some Indian companies have found themselves looking beyond their shores.

"Thriving in the competitive environment in India is not easy. As the big fish get bigger, smaller enterprises get swept up," says Arvind Kapoor, managing director of Rico Auto Industries, one of India's leading suppliers of auto components.

And Kapoor is in a good position to know, having met several other executives of international companies during his career. Today, his wish is for Rico to compete on a global scale.

"When Rico commenced operations at Ludhiana in 1977," he recalls, "little did we know we would be the leading supplier to such giants as Hero Honda, Honda Siel, Maruti Suzuki, General Motors, and Tata Cummins. I realize today that as an enterprise keeps growing, so should the vision."
Arvind Kapur, managing director of Rico Auto Industries

"In fact. our first international customer was Japanese," Kapoor says. "Though our main focus is on auto components, we manufactured parts for agricultural water pumps for this specific customer. This experience taught us to view Japan as a prime market for growth opportunities. We can tailor our products to suit any engineering necessity, whether it be for us in an airplane or in a washing machine."

Rico has a long established relationship with Japan's FCC, the world leader in the manufacture of two-wheeler and automobile clutches. "Our joint venture with them started in 1986," he relates. "It started out as just a technical collaboration at a time when imports were restricted. We had to manufacture the components in India, using technology from them. After nearly two decades of working together, we understand each other very well. The mutual trust and respect is paramount to our long standing relationship."

Kapoor thinks the export route is the right path for the company: "Though only a small percentage of our products are exported today, we are definitely thinking global. Our wish is to see our exports grow up to 50 percent every year, and reach for new possibilities in developed markets."

He has a message to Japanese businessmen: "Take a risk. India is ready for you."

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