I am a master in India

Chapter 236 Running in both directions
Ashish didn't want to go to the University of Tokyo; it was his boss's bad idea.

He actually took a few sarcastic remarks from the Japanese people seriously.

Ashish couldn't understand why India, being so advanced, would turn around and import technology from less developed countries.

The reversal of the Heavenly Gang is too fake.

However, he could only do his best to follow the instructions given by his boss.

His older sister, Lazhu, takes care of him every few days, and they are practically family now.

Yes, Ashish has already started to consider himself half a family member.

Since we're family, we have to do this properly no matter what.

In India, family is the most reliable bond.

After going through various complicated procedures and approvals, Ashish finally led his team to the neighboring country.

Soon after landing, their worldview was completely transformed by what they saw and heard here.

It's hard to describe that feeling; first, there was doubt, then admiration, and finally, silence.

Three days later, Ashish launched into a tirade. "The Indian media are all fucking liars!"

Without further exploration, they hastily embarked on their expedition.

Even before he arrived, Ron had sent several inquiry letters to East University.

He was very familiar with the place and knew which department to deal with, so he didn't even need a translator.

Ashish and his group didn't take any detours; someone proactively greeted them and even thoughtfully provided them with a complete directory of the entire national television industry chain.

They were shocked to discover that Ashish knew absolutely nothing about his neighbor.

This country began producing its own televisions in the 50s, color TVs in the 70s, and had more than 100 color TV production lines in the 80s.

In 90, the production of color television sets exceeded ten million units.

Does India sell 100,000 color TVs every year? Ashish expressed doubt.

What shocked him even more was what was to come: at that time, a price war was raging in the domestic television market, specifically for color televisions.

There are more than 90 color TV manufacturers nationwide, with an annual production capacity of 40 million units, but the utilization rate is only half.

There are too many color TV brands on the market, so they can only engage in price wars.

As for black and white televisions, manufacturers are phasing out this outdated product.

Being eliminated and falling behind felt surreal to Ashish.

After calming down, he almost immediately dialed Ron's satellite phone and gave him a detailed account of the situation.

"You mean the manufacturers there are dismantling and phasing out their black-and-white TV production lines?"

"Yes, boss, the people here don't seem to care about this kind of junk."

"What a great opportunity!" Ron exclaimed with delight.

"I casually asked a TV factory called Venus, and they said a production line with an annual output of 100,000 units only costs $300,000. If you buy two at once, you can get a 20% discount."

Ashish found it absurd; the other party seemed genuinely selling junk, and judging from their tone, there was room for negotiation.

"Buy! No, ask around at several stores, pick the cheapest one, buy two! Try to negotiate any terms you can!"

"The professors are currently selecting manufacturers to inspect, and we can finalize this in half a month."

"The components, the core components." This was another matter that Ron was concerned about.

“Oh, right,” Ashish flipped through the Yellow Pages in his hand, “there are twelve manufacturers that produce color picture tubes, with a total output of 2500 million tubes per year.”

"CRT?"

"It's exactly what you're thinking of, the picture tube for a color television. As for black and white tubes, there are countless manufacturers that can produce them."

"Can it be produced entirely independently?"

“I think so. The professor said they have the entire industry chain and sufficient production capacity.”

Ron was excited; he paced back and forth with the phone in his hand.

"The most important thing is to get the production line and the supply of black and white tubes sorted out first, and then you can contact their color picture tube manufacturers."

"Boss, what do you mean?"

"NEC wants us to buy expensive imported CRT monitors, but we won't! We'll pick the cheap ones!"

"That Japanese man."

"Forget about the Japanese, we are Indians, and Indians never follow the rules when doing business."

“You’re right!” Ashish almost forgot his family’s traditional skills.

"Remember, the sooner the better, our televisions need to go into production this year."

Ah, Ron felt really relieved after hanging up the phone.

His hometown is developing faster than he imagined, and he can take advantage of this opportunity.

It's a pity I don't know if the University of Tokyo's color TVs also rely on Japanese technology.

If he could be completely independent, Ron wouldn't have to deal with the daily grind.

However, there is a great chance; at least for now, he doesn't have to worry about being held hostage by NEC.

Hmph, if we don't teach the Japanese a scam, they'll think India is easy to bully.

While Ashish was scavenging for scraps at East Asia University, Ron had another talk with NEC in Mumbai.

Because he was confident in his decision, he barely haggled. His only request was to insist on keeping the price of the color TV production line down to $180 million.

Considering that Suer Electric was extremely cooperative in other aspects, NEC agreed to his request.

With one person in love and the other willing, the two quickly finalized the details.

At the signing ceremony in early May, Maharashtra Minister Nawal not only attended in person, but also brought a large group of media to show their support.

Ron and the NEC president, as representatives, sat at the table, picked up pens, signed, exchanged documents, and then shook hands.

The flashbulbs were clicking almost nonstop.

Indeed, Suer Electric's signboard shines even brighter now.

The newly established company is called SUR NEC Electronics Technology Co., Ltd. Its temporary office is located in the SUR Electric building; a separate area will be allocated within the industrial park later.

Of course, this is just a plan.

Who knows what happened next?

“Minister, may I speak with you in private?” After dealing with the reporters, Ron approached Naval.

"what's up?"

“According to the agreement with NEC, the purchase of color televisions must be made in US dollars,” Ron winked at him.

“Oh,” Naval suddenly realized, “I’ll talk to the bank and get your two million dollar limit approved first.”

"The future success of Suer Electric Appliances will be inseparable from your help!" Ron was overjoyed.

"I'll come back when the TV is taken offline," Naval said, leaving satisfied.

Ron was also satisfied; his little dollar stash was safe.

From opening his travel company to smuggling drugs and then to doing business with drug dealers, Ron earned a total of $120 million.

It was hard-won; the initial plan was to use the money to purchase a television production line.

Originally, dealing with NEC would have been enough, but the University of Tokyo also needed to spend US dollars.

Ron's savings were running low, so he had a sudden idea and went directly to Minister Naval.

Sur Park is a strategic development for Mumbai, so it's reasonable for the government to allocate resources to it.

The $200 million quota promised by Nawal refers to the exchange rate of rupees to US dollars, which Suer Electric will have to pay for itself.

No problem. According to the official exchange rate, Ron only needs to put up 6200 million rupees to get 200 million US dollars.

This is such a great deal! It's 20% cheaper than the black market, and the latter might not even be able to gather this much money.

The US dollar remains a scarce resource in India. In the past two years, the Indian government directly transported gold to Europe to exchange for US dollars.

With the economy only open for three years, foreign investment has not yet entered on a large scale, and the government's reserves are still not much.

Naval being able to provide this amount is already considered a special case.

Not bad, the money I gave away before wasn't wasted.

Ron has plenty of rupees on hand, as sales of Suer Electric have been steadily increasing over the past few months.

As the weather gets hotter and the sweltering heat is just around the corner, water-cooled air conditioners and electric fans are becoming increasingly popular.

From the beginning of the year to May, I have made an additional 1.5 million rupees in profit.

If Naval agrees, Ron will have no choice but to convert all that money into dollars.

In today's growing market, Suer Electric's profits will continue to rise.

The rupees are piling up, but the dollars are becoming increasingly scarce. We need to find a way to launder them.

After seeing Naval off, Ron turned around and started befriending the younger generation.

According to the agreement that was just signed, the joint venture company needs to pay a 30% deposit, which is $600,000.

NEC will then award contracts for one 18-inch color television production line within three months.

The remaining balance will be settled after the equipment is installed and assembled.

Ron paid the deposit very readily, without any hesitation.

He's a businessman, and he guarantees the joint venture will be absolutely fine, backed by India's reputation!
NEC is quite satisfied, and it's said that it's already on the packaging production line.

Do you think we've never had dealings with the Indian government? How naive!

Before Suzuki could enter the Indian market, it took seven years due to various approvals and political factors.

Toyota also considered expanding into India in the 80s, but the land promised by the government was awarded to a local private company three months later.

Sony and Panasonic started negotiating cooperation with the Indian government in the 1970s, but they still haven't gotten involved.

NEC is progressing incredibly fast, isn't it?

They completed the negotiations and signed the contract in just over a month, and the factory is almost finished.

Compared to the marathon progress of its peers, NEC's progress is as fast as if it were on a cheat code.

The idea that Indians are slow-paced and cunning is a myth!

NEC testifies that it has only encountered good people in India!
See, they transferred the deposit without hesitation, even more efficiently than some of their Japanese counterparts.

This is wonderful; the process went incredibly smoothly.

To demonstrate the credibility of the Japanese, NEC cooperated fully. They were preparing to contract out a brand-new production line, sufficient for decades to come.

Of course, there will be no shortage of service fees and licensing fees to be collected later.

One thing at a time, the real paid package is yet to come.

Coincidentally, good guy Ron thought the same thing.

This wave is truly a two-way race.

Each of them harbored their own ulterior motives, plotting to stab each other in the back later, resulting in an unusually high efficiency in the early stages.

Mumbai newspapers have touted this cooperation as a model for a new phase in the India-Japan economic relationship.

Suer-NEC's products had already gained a reputation even before they went on sale.

There's no way around it; these days, even Indians are starting to idolize foreign things.

Imported goods are naturally considered superior to domestic ones, and wealthy families take pride in using foreign brands.

Suer Electric also needs to borrow NEC's name; expensive appliances like televisions are completely incomparable to electric fans.

Having spent tens of thousands of rupees, who wouldn't want to buy a more reliable imported product?

Yes, that's reality.

It's no wonder that Indian people think this way; Indian domestic products are indeed terrible, and Suer Electric is a rare exception.

The color television project is in place, and Ashish's black and white television project is also progressing well.

(End of this chapter)