It is heartening to see Mr. Mukesh Ambani feature on the cover story of Newsweek's international edition. [Bigger, Faster, Better] Reliance Industries, is now India's largest private-sector enterprise by any measure: revenue ($20 billion in 2005), profit ($2 billion), share of Indian GDP (3.5 percent). Currently, Reliance is India's biggest company by market cap (about $35 billion).
But Mr. Ambani is not one to rest on his laurels. He has already announced his plans to invest more than $11 billion over the next decade to build two new satellite cities outside Mumbai and Delhi. "He foresees these metropolises emerging within just four years, each with a population of 5 million people making $5,000 a year, on average (or seven times India's norm), and hosting top multinational companies."
His other mega vision is to metamorphose India's farming and retail sectors. "Ambani plans to invest $5 billion by 2011 to put both the farms and the stores on the road to modernity, connect them through a distribution system guided by the latest logistics technology, and create enough of a surplus to generate $20 billion in agricultural exports annually."
But this will be an uphill task given the disorganized supply chain and poor infrastructure. Experts say that due of a lack of storage, refrigeration and transportation, some 40 percent of India's fruit and vegetables spoils before reaching market.
"To transform Indian farmers into quality suppliers for his new retail chain, Ambani plans to create 1,600 farm-supply hubs across India, providing technical know-how and credit, selling seeds, fertilizer and fuel, and buying produce. He also plans to build some 85 logistics centers to move food to retail outlets and to ports and airports for export. Reliance is gearing up to train tens of thousands of new employees in the next six to eight months to do everything from erecting prefab warehouses to transporting fresh produce."
That's a splendid vision! Best of luck Mr. Ambani!!
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