Shaking foundations, says the Time on Mr.Ratan Tata

The Time Magazine has an article on Mr.Ratan Tata, the chairman of the Tata group. A small excerpt:

You wouldn't expect the head of Tata group, India's largest conglomerate, to say the rich are boring. But Ratan Tata comes close. Acting rich doesn't interest him. "I've never had the desire to own a yacht, to flaunt," he says. Nor does the Prada-wearing class excite him as a marketing opportunity. China and India, with their growing ranks of tycoons, should attract multinational businesses, not because of the spare million in a few fat wallets, he argues, but because of the spare change in a billion slim ones. "Everyone is catering to the top of the pyramid," says the 68-year-old at his office in Bombay House, Tata group's elegant Edwardian headquarters in India's business capital. "The challenge we've given to all our companies is to address a different market. Pare your margins. Create new markets."

Always a great feeling to see an Indian company taking up the challenge of becoming global and then becoming one. Unlike in the past when some of the great Indian brands simply sold out to MNCs. The best example that I can think of is the sell-out of the soft drink brands - Thumbs Up, Limca, & Gold Spot. I think these brands had in them what it takes to be global....maybe there promoters did not. The entire article on Mr.Tata in the Time Magazine can be read here.