Tata-Birla join hands
Amazing isn’t it; but it is true; the two legendary industrial houses have created a history of sorts by coming together probably for the first time in a business venture. The credit for this goes to Pepsi. The promoters of Lehar (Pepsi, Seven Up, Mirinda) in India are Pepsi Foods. One of three shareholders in Pepsi Foods is Voltas Ltd., a Tata Concern (the other two being Punjab Agro Products and Pepsico Ltd). The bottling franchise of these drinks in eastern India has been bagged by VXL Ltd., a Birla firm.

The costliest T.V. commercial
After four years of unstinted effort, when Pepsi finally received the green singal, it was expected that they would announce their arrival with a bang. And what a bang it was!

Last year, on Independence Day, Lehar Pepsi was launched on the television with a 90-second commercial `Let the magic begin. ‘ Even before the actual telecast of this ad, teaser spots had been flashing for over a fortnight on the tube. Telecast in the premium `Super A’ slot before the `Chitrahaar’, the ad was concieved and directed by the Celebrated Vidhu Vinod Copra of `Parinda’ fame. According to agency sources, the electrifying dizzy paced spot featuring pop star Remo Fernandes and cinestar Juhi Chawla cost a whooping RS 50/- lakh to produce, telecast time charges extra. Undoubtedly the costliest commercial on TV in India but nothing compared to the Michael Jackson spot promoting Pepsi in American and advertising contract of just 5 million US dollars.

Who’s promoting what?
Among the backers of the hiprofile chairman of Parle Export (manufacture of Thums Up, Limca, Gold Spot, Citra, Rim Jhim) Ramesh Chauhan are politicians Suresh Kalmadi and George Fernandes.. On the other hand, chairman Ramesh Vangal of Pepsi Foods is in the good books of Jagdish Tytler, the erestwhile minister of food processing’ in the Rajiv cabinet.

Whereas Pepsi has featured Remo, Juhi and Modonna in its promotions, Thums Up has banked on the appeal of Pooja Bhatt and Salman Khan. The `Choice of a new generation’, commercial of Pepsi has been produced by H.T.A. while `Taste the thunder’ campaign is the brainchild of Ambience. And yes! one celebrity heart throb has been caught promoting both- Kapil Dev!

Also, this is the first time that a non-MP has been sworn in as Prime Minister, giving rise to many a debate on the constitutional validity of the same. But most important, this would probably be the first time in the land of the largest functioning democracy on this planet that a newly elected government would not enjoy the euphoria of any ‘honey-moon’ period of sweet vibes with all the sundry, to speak of. The government was expected to be, and has, seemingly got down straight to business.

Though the grass does look green from here for those basking in the glory of power, not many would be ready to trade places with Narasimha Rao and his men in the prevailing circumstances. A plethora of problems and virtually no solutions in sight is the scenario on almost all the fronts. However, the situation is most bleak and grim on the economic front. With depleting foreign exchange reserves, the spiral rise of inflation, alarming balanced-of-payments position, seemingly insurmountable debt burden and yawning budget and fiscal deficit; the country is faced with problems unprecedented in the 44 years since independence.

THE PRESENT

Unlike the mythological Abhimanyu taking all at once, it would be better and more fruitful to ponder separately over the major contributories to the catastrophe we face today, on the economic front.

Foreign exchange reserves: While in June 89, our foreign exchange (also called forex) reserves stood at Rs. 6500 cr in June 90 they had dropped down to Rs. 5800 cr and by January 91 forex reserves were barely good for 10 days lingering only at Rs. 1500 cr. Frantic appeals were made, panic buttons pressed and after a lot of pleading, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailed us out temporarily with a loan of 1.78 billion US dollars (Rs 3275 cr. Approx). This loan consisted of two parts. The first, of 0.77 billion US dollars given under ‘CCFF’ scheme at 9%interest to be repaid completely within five years. The second part of 1.01 billion US dollars was given as for import of petroleum products as emergency relief arising due to the Gulf crisis.

But this relief was very sort lived. By beginning of June 91, we were again hand-to-mouth down to Rs. 2500 cr forex reserves, when the government resorted to swapping 20 tonnes of gold seized from smugglers with the Union Bank of Switzerland for around Rs 500 cr hard currency. The government has an option to re-acquire this gold after six months at the then prevalent prices or repay the amount with 6.3 % interest. Though this move of the caretaker government has been lambasted and questioned by many, some arrangements do exist in favour of this action. Firstly, the gold pledged (and not sold, as misunderstood by some) is not out of the official monetary gold reserves but the seizures made of smuggled gold. Secondly, it was imperative for the government to acquire forex almost immediately else India would have defaulted for the first time in history in interest payment abroad. Also, assuming that the country does not re-acquire the gold, to have managed hard currency loans at just 6.3 % interest is a very good bargain. Of course, many people have equated this action as signifying to the world of the nation’s bankruptcy. No doubt, such an action is justified only in the extreme circumstances but let us not harbour any false pretensions of the country’s present economic position either.

At only 42 years of age, the short and bespectacled Dr. R.B. Baheti may not be (or may be?) the richest person in Indore, the premier industrial and trading centre of M.P. He is also one of its most respected and renowned citizens. This respect and adulation for Ramesh Baheti is not merely for his entrepreneurial achievements but because of a genuine feeling of care and concern that he has for the city and its people.

The story of this self-made-industrialist could easily pass off as a work of fiction meant to inspire others but for the man, it took years of sweat and toil to cherish his dreams of steel.

Born on the 2nd January, 1946, Ramesh was the second child and the first son of Mr. And Mrs. Babulal Baheti, a teacher-turned-textile businessman (which he is even today) in Indore.

Being a part of a large Marwari joint family, no particular attention or prominence was given to young Ramesh, which he remembers, though with a tinge of sorrow. ” I was just an average boy with no signs of any spark in me. As children, we were brought up under a lot of restrictions-no colours on Holi, no crackers on Diwali and all that. So in terms of specific memories, with due regards to my parents, I would say that I did not enjoy my childhood. In fact, I very much miss those days when I see my kids growing up and the amount of attention we pay to them.”

Not much of importance or thought was given to the kind of schools the children were put in as long as it was a school of sorts. Though all the schools that Ramesh studied in were run by private organizations, but there was not much to distinguish them from the Government pathashalas. Ramesh was one of the many faceless students, passing through school without any distinction or detention. Until, 1960. That year in his 10th, he performed miserably and was detained despite a couple of tuitions and also an attempt in the supplementary examinations. ”It was matter of great social humiliation and disgrace for me. I just did not know what to do. Even thoughts of committing suicide flashed across my mind.” It is usually at such decisive and tense moments of life that a person either gives up or resolves to start afresh and fight. Ramesh chose the latter and for good. ”The desire to prove my mettle was so overpowering that I just could not give up. I firmly resolved to give my personality a complete facelift from that of a shy back bencher to that of a confident top notcher. All this did not come to me from any person or book-it all came from within.”

As the first step in the process of metamorphosis, Ramesh decided to change his school to bury his memories of the failure and start from square one.