Consolidation of Service Providers

Ever Thought or Noticed for 14-Sep-2017:

Have you ever noticed that there are about 50 Banks, 44 Mutual Fund AMCs, and 29 Life/ General Insurance Companies in India. Anyone having Rs. 1 Billion (100 Crores) can open a Life Insurance Company, or Rs. 5 Billion (500 Crores) can open a Bank, albeit with Govt permission. Do they all make profits, or provide value for the people? The answer is a big NO!

During the writing of my article (Administrative Reforms in India) in 2007, I mooted the idea of consolidation of these financial entities to clear clutter, improve efficiency and profits for them. The Govt has just woken up last year and started doing that with the Banks starting with SBI. Till 2015 they were granting new Banks, new AMCs etc. Ideally, we should have only 6-8 Insurance companies, 8-12 Banks and 12-16 AMCs for a healthy competition. On the other hand if we see the Telecom service providers, the competition has cut their number to size about 6, which is good enough. 

Budget Hotel

Points to Ponder for 08-Sep-2017:

In 2002, while working on a Hotel Project, the concept of a “Budget Hotel” struck my mind. I worked out certain attributes and characteristics for this concept and put forward in my Project Report. Three years later the Tatas formed a separate company for Budget Hotels in 2004 and started their Budget Hotel in the name of “Ginger Hotels” in 2005 which was the first in India. 

Cars with Power & Comfort

Words of Experience for 01-Sep-2017:

During my childhood (in the sixties), I was wondering if we could combine the comfort of a car and the power of a Jeep. There used to be one “Station Wagon” model that time, but it was just a jeep with doors- not much comfort. Later, over the years (in the eighties in India), came the concept of SUV (Sports & Utility Vehicles). Now we have several of models to choose from.

Cheapest Car

Thought for Today: 25-Sep-2016:

In 2007 the Tatas came up with their cheapest Car model Nano. This car was a dream project for Mr R N Tata as well as the company, which they nourished since the Nineties. Though it was an extraordinary feat, the model couldn’t sustain commercially or technically for a long time, even with heavy promotion. 

In 2007 itself I had predicted its commercial and technical failure and wrote blogs. Today, it no longer remains the cheapest car, and people now know how much the company spent / subsidised for the cheapest car. Ever heard the adage, “To keep Gandhiji poor the Britishers used to spend a lot of money”?