I am a master in India

Chapter 351 Reputation
Ron's approach to charity isn't simply to donate money directly; that would be a waste of time and resources.

Indian officials are eager to embezzle every rupee in the accounts; charitable funds? Once they get here, they're mine!

You're suggesting using this money to build a hospital? I guarantee you'll end up with a dilapidated concrete building, a project that will take seven or eight years to complete.

To do charity work in India, you have to get involved yourself.

The famous Tata and Bora Groups also take charge of their own philanthropic endeavors.

These are only two large conglomerates in India that are willing to invest money in public welfare, and they both have a profound heritage and a long history.

Ron is a rising star, but he takes the lead in doing charity work himself.

Hospitals, of course, cater to both the common people and the rich; as long as they can maintain a balance between income and expenditure, they have achieved their goal.

He had promised Anand that if he made a profit of 100 million rupees, he would build an affordable hospital.

This promise was fulfilled a little late, but it can be considered a double repayment.

In the realm of education, public welfare naturally involves building schools.

In fact, there is a combined primary and secondary school in Suer Park to the north, which mainly serves the internal employees and surrounding residents.

But that's not enough. He also plans to build a top-tier school in Mumbai, encompassing primary, secondary, and high school education, a twelve-year integrated system.

Mumbai has no shortage of affordable schools; almost every slum has a private or public school nearby.

However, the quality varies greatly, and most of them can only undertake literacy tasks, let alone cultivate outstanding students.

Therefore, unlike hospitals which cater to the general public, schools aim to cultivate elites.

If I invest money in education, can you say that I'm not doing charity work?

The new school, Ron, is planned to be located near Bandera, Mumbai's new core area, where there is still a lot of land available for development.

South Mumbai is too crowded, and it's impossible to find a suitable location to build a private school.

Bandera is a good place; there are many wealthy people there, mainly from the entertainment industry.

Unfortunately, the supporting infrastructure hasn't kept up, so many celebrities' children have to travel to South Mumbai to get into good schools.

Ron's elite school came at just the right time; it's called the Mumbai International School and uses English as the medium of instruction.

The school not only has many foreign teachers, but also Indian teachers with overseas study experience, all of whom are specially hired.

The teaching materials and curriculum are basically in line with international standards, which is a completely different teaching method from church schools and local language schools.

The schools in Mumbai are a mixed bag, including girls' schools, church schools, Marathi and Gujarati schools, and English schools.

These schools are all products of decades ago, some even being old schools established during the British colonial period. Mumbai has not opened any new elite schools in the last thirty years.

However, the number of school-age children is increasing year by year, and the number of places for enrollment is extremely limited. Children have to queue up for enrollment as soon as they are born.

Even the wealthy are not exempt; they all have to wait in line obediently, or beg and plead for favors.

Mumbai's urban resource planning is extremely irrational, and it has done a terrible job in areas such as water supply, healthcare, and education.

Once built, Ron’s International School in Mumbai will undoubtedly become the city’s eighth good school.

The first seven are all located in southern Mumbai, which is completely insufficient to meet the enormous needs of more than 16 million people.

This leads to a situation where every student registration at a good school is backed by a transaction involving money and power, leaving ordinary small business owners unable to even get a spot.

Given the scarcity of elite schools, it's not surprising that Ron would get involved.

He is doing public service, not charity.

The core is to meet social needs and create social value, not just to provide free services.

Healthcare and education are the most suitable public welfare activities for him, as they can not only bring him great prestige, but also serve as a way to control upper-level resources.

The Suhr Clinic and the Mumbai International School are not social resources that ordinary people can access; they are essentially aristocratic services on an implicit level.

The scarcer the resource, the more valuable it becomes; in a few years, it may become the best tool for maintaining relationship networks.

Who doesn't get sick? The rich, officials, and their families all want the best treatment when they are sick.

At this point, the Suer Advanced Clinic becomes particularly important, as it is a service that only those with authority can enjoy.

Needless to say, schools have limited spots, which are only given to the children of government officials who can help and business partners.

In India, the line between generosity and bribery is often blurred.

This method of bribery is more discreet and safer, and it is often what the person involved urgently needs.

Compared to bags of cash, hospital beds and school places are more legitimate and can satisfy the vanity of those who accept bribes.

Of course, Ron isn't worried about others criticizing his philanthropy as too aristocratic, because he's also benefiting ordinary people.

Aside from the three affordable hospitals, Sue High School, which caters to ordinary people, is essentially a budget alternative to Mumbai's international schools.

Although the school was built for company employees, it was originally designed to be large-scale and could accommodate tens of thousands of students.

This is enough to reach the entire central Mumbai region and solve the education problems of countless families' children.

Moreover, the school fees are not expensive; they can be considered affordable.

It's not unreasonable to allow these hospitals and schools to operate some privately for a fee, is it?

The promotional video broadcast on SunTV was produced by Chopra himself, and included speeches and on-location shooting at hospitals and schools.

After the morning news aired, it immediately became a hot topic of discussion among major media outlets.

Charity is a rare thing in India.

India has been implementing its economic liberalization policy for six years, coinciding with a golden age of global peace and development.

With these two boosts, the pace of economic development and social transformation has accelerated significantly.

The market economy flourished, and one giant after another emerged or began to take shape. People's lives also improved significantly, and of course, the rich always rose the fastest.

A lead can lead to further gains, and the gap between the rich and poor can widen rapidly.

The right wing of the Indian government believes that rapid economic growth is more important than the final distribution of wealth.

Leftists, on the other hand, value the living conditions of the lower classes and are more concerned with whether social development indicators, including child mortality rates, have improved.

However, neither of these factions pays attention to the gap between the rich and the poor. Many people believe that this is not very harmful to the economy, and that growth is the top priority at this stage.

Due to this perception, or whether it is intentional or unintentional neglect, the lower classes of Indian society have not actually made much progress.

Weak social security and inequality remain the norm.

According to normal historical patterns, when uncontrollable inequalities intensify, bloody killings often erupt in order to balance this relationship.

Therefore, some social elites will realize the need to pay more taxes and provide more social security for the poor.

But India is different; this country is destined to be a special case in the history of social development.

Centuries of colonial rule and the caste system that lasted for thousands of years rendered all social, historical, and economic laws ineffective.

Everyone is aware that the gap between the rich and the poor is widening, but the government has not taken any remedial measures, and the media does not pay attention to such issues.

Only some scholars have harshly criticized the government and businessmen for their negligible investment in healthcare and education, and for the fact that the taxes paid by the super-rich are far from matching their social responsibilities.

Areas that nobody cares about, areas that even the government and the media don't pay attention to, are destined to remain stagnant.

Ultimately, the poor are all from lower castes, and they have difficulty even guaranteeing basic human rights, let alone social welfare.

Ron's extensive involvement in philanthropy is truly a breath of fresh air among Mumbai's wealthy, and deserves to be celebrated.

He also cooperated by giving interviews to several newspapers; after all, the purpose of spending 500 million rupees was to boost his reputation.

He wanted to make money. He also wanted fame.

After giving himself a makeover, Ron got busy with SunTV business.

Sun TV has been operating for a full year since it launched last September or October, and this November it will be back in operation.

Karuna compiled a set of data to analyze the TV station's operations from various angles, including viewership, subscribers, and content programming.

Sun TV currently has 3200 million subscribers, and there is no doubt that variety shows like "China's Got Talent" have played a huge role in its growth.

Although a significant number of new users are still in the free trial period, the annual subscription fee is still around 3 million rupees.

This is the subscription revenue after deducting the operator's share. In reality, at least 20 million users are using SunTV's own cable television network.

In other words, without considering revenue sharing, SunTV's subscription revenue could reach the threshold of 5 million rupees.

Including various advertising and sponsorship fees, the television station's total revenue is approximately 8 million rupees.

However, this is not profit; SunTV's expenses were also very high the previous year.

The company spent 300 million rupees just to lay the cable television network, and more than 100 million rupees to buy TV dramas, produce variety shows, and expand its film and music copyright library.

After deducting staff salaries and the daily operations of the television station, the profit is roughly 3 million rupees.

Achieving profitability in the first year is already quite impressive, as investments in cable television networks are considered high-quality fixed assets.

From now on, you can basically enjoy the benefits without having to pay any maintenance fees.

However, Ron had a different idea about SunTV; he felt that cable television networks were worth exploring in depth.

"Next year, we will spin off the cable television division and establish a separate company."

"Why?" Karuna was taken aback.

“We already have an advantage in the market, so we can release the television network and make full use of these resources.”

“Ron, do you mean to bring in other TV stations to expand the revenue of the cable television network?” Mary asked.

“Yes,” Ron gave her an approving look. “We have a distribution network in all the major cities of India. It would be a shame not to make good use of it.”

To put it bluntly, Ron had his eye on the television operator market.

They have India’s largest television network, which is equivalent to having the largest cinema chain in the film market.

It would be a shame not to use the money to earn a share of the profits.

It doesn't matter whose show it is, it's all about making money, so there's no shame in it.

"Boss, won't this affect our own TV channel?" Karuna asked with some concern.

"Probably not. Currently, the only threat to SunTV is Zee TV. Cable TV networks are not open to them right now, but other private channels can boldly accept them. If we don't take over the distribution channels, others will."

Ron has studied India’s private television stations; there are many of them, but none of them are very large.

They are mostly based in their own cities and rarely have an impact on other cities.

This means they are unlikely to pose a threat to Sun TV, and local TV stations can simply make money off the distribution fees.

After hearing the explanation, Karuna no longer objected, and his focus shifted to Sun TV.

"Mary, I'm entrusting the establishment of the branch office to you."

“No problem.” She shrugged.

“Sun TV’s broadcasting center is too small and needs to be expanded. I’ve already contacted the municipal authority, and fifty acres of grassland to the south will soon be allocated to the TV station. Karuna, you’re in charge of developing a planning map.”

"Yes, boss." He was wide awake at this.

Ron was about to say something when the phone on the table rang.

He picked it up and listened for a couple of minutes, then his expression turned serious. Something had happened again in Tamil.

(End of this chapter)