Changing ERA’s -1947- before, beneath & beyond 2011‏ : By S.K.Sachdev

It was on the eve of 15th Aug 1947, after the tricolor was hoisted –India gained independence, partition, sorrow & smile were hand in hand.

The country leaders took the country on a path of socialism/secularism, what all followed is history- to sum it up the decades were viewed with myopic vision of Nehru, strengthening vision of Indra Gandhi, economic vision of Manmohan Singh.

Changing ERA’s -1947- before, beneath & beyond 2011

Transition from 1950 to 2010

1950- Decade of Product- Country had achieved Independence but even scissors & butter were imported .The think tanks were socialists &  thought of (PRODUCTS ) what to make in the country -butter/tools/dams/engineering  goods.

1960– Decade of PROJECTS-the think tanks made a blue print of products & started to develop them through PROJECTS ; HMT/BHEL/BHAKRANANGAL ETC were conceived & executed, the country moved from importing to manufacturing ,marched towards self-dependence.

1970-Decade of self sufficiency PRODUCTION- Sustainable technologies were brought in, (Reverse Engineering was the flavor of the decade), Pharmaceutical/Sugar/Cement/Engineering took the front seat ,imported drugs were made with change in process patent as India did not except product patent, large number of antibiotics were flooded in the market because of reverse engineering ,helping the local drug prices to fall sharply, multinational lost the market share & local companies were mushrooming ,eg Ranbaxy, Dr. Reddys Lab  etc. Engineering was also going north wards,food (crop yields) /output was harnessing as Pesticides/Fertilizers/tractors/farming equipments were facilitating the green revolution.

1980-Decade of PRODUCTIVITY – Improvement in efficiency/cost benefit analysis & focus on wastage reduction was the norm in industry to compete with local industry as SSI & medium scale projects were more successful  & in vogue.Industry leaders were rushing for expansion & diversification envisaging new product lines.

1990– Country came to standstill due to road block of balance of payment, dollars left the RBI coffers ,Gold was traded to take care of balance of payments & then a Knight in the form of Manmohan Singh emerged & gave the mantra of Liberalization, simultaneously the country picked up with IT & ITES ,this gave abundant job opportunities to the Indian youth.

The country moved from protectionism to consumerism, chain of events took place in the marketplace, spending power of common man increased,consumption picked up & GDP increased.

With the advent of Privatization, Globalization, Liberalization- information technology & retail took the front seat & India emerged as the Global emerging market for back office resource for services related to each & every sphere. Country emerged from the shadows of license raj to open market.

1995-Decade of Marketing, existing units took the route of expansion, new units took the route of new projects for mass production, category variation to seduce & indulge the customer with more options & more visibility of products focused marketing on the steering wheel for forward growth.

2000-Systematic planning-global manufacturing hubs, decade of capacity enhancement/ foreign collaboration & world focus on India as the new economic centre.

2005-BATTLE GROUND-MARKET PLACE. With local & all global companies coming & establishing to serve the plus one billion consumer, the focus shifts to market place – the new battle ground for existence, growth & survival .

2010Communication advertising; marketing battleground takes the booster dose from advertising.Print, radio, television, billboards, highways take the lead for product category awareness, preference in occupying consumer mind space, decision making becomes dependant on communication, retail takes the help of below the line advertising, the shop experience of on the spot freebies promotions to facilitate sales & above the line advertising new mode – Internet takes the share from conventional advertising tools & becomes the major decision & endorsement maker from cars to colas, from computers to clothing line.

All the businesses were driving growth, India becoming self sufficient with rising incomes induced consumption, after travelling through decades of changes from product to projects to production to productivity to planning (liberalization effect) placing (in market) to pampering (promotional advertising ) the INDIAN story of high octane growth driven comes to Kumbhkaran phase, sedation due to brake in governmental policy of not moving forward &  leaving the liberalization process mid way ,there may be a stop for the time but liberalization is like an antibiotic dose- if taken incomplete, it is more harmful than not taken for the symptoms of the disease .

The glory story from 1947 to 2011 takes a break ,but not ends, as the Government will rise above the regional issues & ensure for more liberalization of processes for the so called Graceful common MAN .

About S.K.Sachdev :He is a Pharmaceutical & Beverages expert ,for having spent major part of his career with Dabur and Coca-Cola.His keen interests are monitoring political and business news and can be reached on this forum for any discussion related to the country,pharmacy,beverages.

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