I am a master in India

Chapter 270 Making Money While Lying Down
“Mr. Sue?” Anida looked somewhat surprised. “I didn’t expect you to come to Mondra.”

Clearly, he had also heard of Ron's reputation; Sull Electric had successfully expanded from Mumbai to all of India.

“I’m planning to build a branch factory in Gujarat. Mr. Modi said there’s a port here, so I came to take a look,” Ron replied with a smile.

“Mundra is one of the best ports in Kach Bay. Although there is nothing here now, it will soon become the port with the largest throughput on the west coast of India.”

Adani spoke quickly, his eyes slightly brightening, as he suddenly realized this was an excellent opportunity to develop the port.

“This seems to have just started construction. When is it expected to be operational?” Ron looked at the construction site in the distance.

"At most three years, Pier No. 1 will be operational," Adani quickly assured, his mustache twitching slightly as he spoke.

“Three years.” Ron remained noncommittal.

“Mr. Suer,” Adani finally couldn’t hold back, “Suer Electric’s branch factory could definitely be considered for Mondra. Once the port is built, your goods can be shipped directly from here, which is very convenient.”

Adani built a port, but how can a port operate without cargo? If an export-oriented factory is built nearby, it's like having a regular customer.

Whether it's cargo loading and unloading, warehouse leasing, or ocean shipping, it all costs money.

The port business is like being a landlord; as long as it's running smoothly, you're guaranteed a steady income regardless of drought or flood.

Anidachao Ron's decision to build a branch factory here is undoubtedly for export purposes. Like most businesses here, it's targeting the Arab countries across the border.

See, business is coming in! Most importantly, if Mondra can attract Suer Electric Appliances, it will have an extraordinary advertising effect.

Who hasn't heard the advertising slogan that everyone can afford? With it as an example, other companies will flock to set up shop near Port Mundra.

Unfortunately, Ron wasn't too happy with the timing.

"Three years is too long. Suer Electric's production capacity is tight, and we can't wait that long. Our plan is to start production within a year, the sooner the better."

"A year?" Adani wrinkled his round, bulbous nose.

"Yes, the workshop and factory buildings are not complicated and can be completed in four or five months. After another month or two of equipment debugging, production can begin."

This is not the first time that Suer Electric has expanded its factory; they are already very familiar with the process.

Once the formalities in Gujarat are completed and the engineering team and building materials are ready in advance, a year should be sufficient.

Unfortunately, this timeframe was not realistic for the port; three years was already the date Adani calculated based on the most ideal circumstances.

"Mr. Suer, as long as your factory is located in Mondra, all future port fees will be discounted by 20%."

"Even without port access initially, your goods can be transported by other shipping companies; this won't affect our cooperation." Anida was still unwilling to give up.

“It’s too slow,” Ron shook his head. “Look, the surrounding area is all bushes. They couldn’t even handle the water and electricity in the early stages of the factory.”

Why did he value Jamnagar across the river? Because it was a well-established port city with complete infrastructure, including water, electricity, and roads.

Once the factory is in place, Suer Electric can start production immediately without any bottlenecks.

While it's cheap here in Mondra, everything has to be started from scratch, making it a massive undertaking.

Adani was somewhat disappointed. If they could have brought in Suer Electric, the development speed of Mondra Port would have more than doubled.

“However, Mr. Adani, it’s not impossible for us to cooperate.” Ron suddenly smiled mysteriously.

“Mr. Suer?” Adani asked, puzzled.

"Mr. Modi and I are going to the east to take a look. I heard there are limestone mines there."

“Oh,” Adani said with some surprise, “Mr. Sue does more than just the electronics business?”

“Of course, I also have a building materials company in Uttar Pradesh,” Ron shrugged.

Mo Di was also somewhat surprised. He hadn't expected Ron to be involved in the mining business. No wonder he had gone to such lengths to come all the way to the other side of Kachi Bay.

“Well, if it’s suitable, I have no reason to turn down a supplier that’s right next door.” Adani came over to shake hands and say goodbye.

He was in the trading business, and the more industries nearby there were, the better it would be for his port.

Watching his retreating figure, Ron chuckled to himself, never expecting to encounter one of India's four future great families here.

To be honest, Anida is very low-key and has none of the arrogance typical of local businessmen.

The fact that he was able to buy the port of Mondra was enough to prove his financial strength, but of course, it was still a long way from the time it would take off in his future career.

Anida's reputation is currently only known in Gujarat; outside of Gujarat, no one knows who he is.

When asked who his benefactor was who helped him rise to prominence, Ron turned to look at the bearded man beside him.

“He’s Gujarati, and his family used to be in the textile trade,” Modi explained, adding that he thought Ron wanted to know about Adani’s background.

“Is that so?” Ron chuckled.

"When he was young, he also went to Mumbai to try his luck in the diamond business, but it was very difficult for outsiders to get in. Later, he returned to Gujarat and helped out at his brother's plastics factory, but in the end he decided to go it alone."

“A very decisive person,” Ron nodded.

"But the situation was bad back then, you know, licenses. He set up a factory and needed ten tons of raw materials, but he could only get 1.5 tons because there was no quota."

This meant the factory was unable to operate four, five, or even six days a week, essentially shutting down. Ultimately, he returned to the trading business, something his family excelled at.

“You know Adani very well?” Ron raised an eyebrow.

“I know every key figure in Gujarat very well.”

Modi is now doing election work, making phone calls to seven or eight influential people every day, and he takes extensive notes.

He had a clear sense of who the real businessmen were and who the incompetent corrupt ones were. "Alright, let's go check out the limestone mine to the east." Ron glanced at the construction site in Mondra Port and turned around.

Adani was the fastest rising of the four families. His business started in 85, not much earlier than Ron's.

Now that Adani is venturing into the port business, Ron is also preparing to expand his mining empire.

The group hired several tuk-tuks in Mundra County and headed straight for the mines on the east coast.

The limestone mine that Modi mentioned was very close to Mundra County; they could see the barren sea rock area from the car.

“It stretches for several kilometers east of here,” the master said, gesturing towards the coastline.

“It looks like it’s quite large.” Ron’s breathing quickened slightly.

It's not just big, it's several times larger than Mirzabul.

"The exact reserves haven't been explored. There's a large cement plant near Ahmedabad, so it's not needed here."

“I’ll do this business,” Ron said immediately. “Sul Building Materials Company has experience in this area.”

“We’ll have to talk about that when we get back.” Mo Di shook his head; he saw longing in Mr. Su’s eyes.

“Okay, let’s go back now. I need to talk to Mr. Adniwa again.”

"Tomorrow is not possible; Mr. Adniwa has an important meeting today."

"I will stay in Gujarat for two more days."

Ron didn't expect to receive such a big gift near Catch Bay; judging by its size alone, the limestone deposit has reserves of at least 5 million tons.

He doesn't understand geology, but he can compare sizes. The Mirzabul mine is already large enough, but here it's less than a fifth the size.

Such abundant reserves are enough for Suer Building Materials Company to mine for fifty or even a hundred years.

We've got a gold mine; we can make money lying down for the rest of our lives.

As for Mordy's mention of a large cement plant near Ahmedabad, Ron didn't care at all.

Because it's too far from Mondra, more than 350 kilometers away.

The building materials business always follows the principle of proximity.

After Ron starts mining here, all the ports, big and small, in the vicinity will become his customers.

The Mondra project hasn't even started yet, and the Jamnagar port is still under development; there's still time for everything.

The next day, Ron met with Adeniva, the leader of the BJP, again, and this time he was much more proactive.

“Sul Electric can be located in Jamnagel, but I still want that mine,” Ron said bluntly.

"4 jobs, including future votes. A quarter of the factory's profits will be used for local development in Gujarat; you can continue to expand the factory or do other business as you wish." The BJP began raising the price.

It was obvious that Mo Daxian had secretly informed him of this upon his return. He had noticed that Ron was very interested in the mines in Kachi Bay, even more so than in the Suer Electric Factory.

“40,000 jobs means the park will be nearly 500 acres. That’s too big an investment. I need the state government’s help,” Ron bargained.

“You say it,” Adniwa said, shaking his head.

“I need a bank loan, one billion rupees.”

“Too much, at most 500 million.” Adniwa cut it in half.

“Deal. However, I still need to find a factory in Jamnagar that is ready to use immediately. That way, we can move the equipment from Suer Electric here and start production. We can start production while building the new industrial park.”

After discussing it briefly with Modi, Adniwa nodded, "No problem, there are unused warehouses there, you can convert them into factories."

Finally, the limestone mines of Kachi Bay.

“We can let you mine it, but we won’t provide a single penny of loan.” Adniwa immediately shut down his outrageous demands.

Suer Electric's factory is a labor-intensive manufacturing industry that can create a large number of jobs.

It's understandable that the BJP would offer some loans to attract investment.

However, the mining industry provides a limited number of jobs, far fewer than the manufacturing industry.

Moreover, to avoid accusations of nepotism, the BJP is very cautious about transactions involving state-owned resources.

“Okay.” Ron shrugged; after all, it was their first time meeting.

“We’ve agreed to all your conditions. Now let’s talk about the election.” That’s what Adniwa is really concerned about.

"What do you need me to do?" Ron shrugged, he was aware of that.

In India, the relationship between government and business is already ambiguous.

"They need to cooperate with us on a few campaign campaigns, and we're also facing some difficulties in preparing for the election."

“I understand, I understand,” Ron nodded repeatedly. “How much do you need?”

Adniwa didn't speak, but Modi made a gesture.

"Deal!" Ron took a deep breath.

Ten million rupees, this is his largest bribe to date.

(End of this chapter)