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HINDUJAS'
INDIAN BUSINESS
Influence
Czars
In
terms of size the Rs 64-crore Bofors scandal may be chicken feed for the
Rs 3,500-crore Hinduja empire in India. Powered by their deep pockets,
untold wealth and-most importantly-political patronage, the Hindujas grew
from a four-company group to the 20-company conglomerate in just four
years between 1994 and 1998. It was P.V. Narasimha Rao who flagged off
a new Ashok Leyland truck from the prime minister's official residence
in 1994. Again, it was Rao who inaugurated the Hindujas' yet-to-fructify
Vizag power plant the same year. Their hold on Delhi did not slacken throughout
the five changes in government since 1996. Less than a month ago S.P.
Hinduja-eldest of the four Hinduja brothers-was at Prime Minister A.B.
Vajpayee's Asia Society dinner in New York. The Hindujas' house in London
was a must-stop for most Indian politicians crossing the Atlantic, and
Britain's first couple, the Blairs, hardly missed Hinduja invites.
 |
| G.P.
(fourth from left) and A.P. Hinduja (sixth from left) |
No wonder
their business leap-frogged in India. The Hinduja-promoted IndusInd Bank
was India's top private bank in 1998. Though transport (Ashok Leyland)
still accounts for over 50 per cent of the group's sales, it has expanded
into businesses ranging from finance to telecom and from media to energy.
The group's ambitions included a bid for Air-India, Rs 5,000 crore investment
in power and a major expansion of Hinduja Finance Corporation (HFC) which
has grown into a Rs 1,000-crore company in six years of its formation.
But much of this turbo-charged growth plan must lie low, if not abandoned.
Already HFC's share price has plunged from Rs 254 on October 8 to Rs 170
on October 11. Other listed group concerns also came under bear hammering.
And most importantly, from London to Delhi, there are signs of the Hindujas
becoming politically persona non grata to politicians-at least for the
time being. Though 13-years late, the Hinduja's have begun to come under
Bofors' shelling.
-Rohit
Saran
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Relics
of old empires exist everywhere. Why can't the Mani Shankar Aiyars of
India let them be? asks INDIA TODAY Senior Editor Ravi Shankar in
