Ratan Tata

The media went berserk after the Mumbai attacks. Taj Mahal hotel was under siege for 60 hours by a handful of gunmen. That had hampered the reputation and induced fear in tourist’s mind. Would the business and atmosphere at Taj be the same again? Adding to this was the Tata Nano fiasco in West Bengal.

Tata Nano, the car the world is waiting for, hit a roadblock in 2008. West Bengal government has granted 1000 acre land to Tata Motors for building the plant. Tata Nano business model is a lean model. It has invited its suppliers to build their shops around the main factory so that the cost of logistics would be trimmed down. That would put the final price of the car at 1 lakh. Mamatha Banerjee had other ideas. She did not get the whole supply chain thing for whatever reasons. So, she picked up few farmers and went on strike at the Tata plant. Tata has to return 400 acres to the farmers. Since the factory was almost built, Tata cannot absorb losses and go back. So it is win-win situation as per Ms.Banerjee. Can we blame her? That is what is happening in India so far.

Nano fiasco along with the Taj incident made 2008 a forgettable year for Tata. But, Is it really? What if I were to say : 2008 is a year Tata’s would like to remember. In fact, whole of India Inc would remember 2008.

Why exactly?