I am a master in India

Chapter 375 Finding Another Way Out
While Ashish was figuring out how to make a quick buck with his family using VCDs, Ron was having drinks with Oda at Sapphire.

"Sursan, I never expected Mumbai to have such a wonderful place." Oda stared intently at the stage, his eyes practically glued to it.

“In the past, people came to Mumbai to visit the India Gate,” Ron said, swirling his glass contentedly. “Now, they come to Mumbai to patronize the Sapphire.”

"This is really nice; Japan lacks bars with this kind of atmosphere."

“Here, if you have money, you can be a privately commissioned star; you’ll be Shah Rukh Khan.” Ron squinted as he surveyed the bar.

Just like he said, the sapphire is full of those pot-bellied rich people.

No matter how old, fat, or ugly he is, as long as he takes out his money, he can become the most dazzling person in the room.

If he selects a song, he possesses every minute of that song. He will sing along with the music, tilt his head back, wave his hands, gaze deeply into the eyes of the dancer who is temporarily playing the leading lady, and sing a duet with her.

The dancers don't sing live; they just lip-sync while mimicking the movements in the movies. All the movie songs are pre-recorded, easily immersing each guest in the illusion of being "different from others."

“No wonder there are so many people downstairs; they really like it here.” Xiaotian nodded thoughtfully.

"Yes, five minutes of attention. Even a car mechanic can come to a bar and get five minutes of attention from a dancer."

Sapphire is so popular that Luca has expanded its perimeter in the past two years to accommodate more guests.

The first floor has become much larger, more than three times the size of the previous one, and the entrance threshold has been removed.

Whether they are car mechanics, unemployed people, merchants from South Mumbai, or wealthy businessmen, they all inevitably deal with burly men during the day and listen to the nagging of their own obese wives at night.

Sapphire might be the only place where they could openly look at beautiful girls, beautiful and young girls, young enough to be their daughters.

Of course, there are no restrictions on the first floor, but the floors above the second floor are all membership-based.

Furthermore, it is impossible to reach the second floor from the first floor; one must go up through another entrance in the Sapphire.

However, you can see the scene downstairs clearly through the one-way glass upstairs, completely and without reservation.

That kind of game, looking down on all living beings and observing the myriad aspects of human life, is exactly what the upstairs guests love.

Not to mention, the entrance to Sapphire now displays signs for a five-star restaurant.

Xiaotian is now completely captivated by the Don Dori roasted chicken on the plate; the delicious pink chicken is incredibly appetizing.

The meat was so tender that you could almost hear the clucking of a live chicken being slit in the kitchen.

This sapphire is really great; there's food, drinks, and fun to do—what a wonderful place!

He had been to India many times and had vaguely heard of this place. However, out of wariness of red-light districts, he only visited it for the first time today.

"Sursan, cheers to our past pleasant cooperation!"

"Cheers!" Ron raised his glass with a smile.

It's clear that Xiaotian is in a good mood, and he certainly has reason to be happy.

After three years of cooperation between NEC and Suer Electric, they have finally received all the remaining payments!
Yes, Suer Electric Appliances has suddenly become very active in the last six months, and the speed at which it has been disbursing funds has been increasing.

The reason is that they are preparing to start a new collaboration.

Suer Electric has set its sights on refrigerators, but unfortunately, India's compressor technology is really lacking.

Southeast University, on the other hand, is somewhat preoccupied with its own problems, as it is at a turning point in its independent innovation efforts.

Previously, the refrigerator compressors at the University of Tokyo also used imported Japanese technology. After more than ten years of development, they have slowly begun to pursue independent research and development.

Ron did want to "jointly develop" the technology, but unfortunately, it hasn't been successful yet.

There was no other way; after searching high and low, I ended up back in Japan.

Practice makes perfect; NEC also has refrigerator technology.

So, by taking advantage of the lure of settling the final payment, Suer Electric successfully persuaded Xiaotian to go to headquarters to negotiate the transfer of compressor technology.

Don't underestimate this final payment; it amounts to nearly one hundred million US dollars.

NEC has had a tough few years, especially its electronics division, where sales have declined significantly.

While the financial report may show an increase in net profit, that is actually from the revenue generated from the sale of securities and land.

To put it bluntly, it's purely for the sake of making the data look good.

If Oda can bring back $100 million in cash, that would be a great achievement.

The people at NEC headquarters, of course, deeply resent the business reputation of Indians.

However, the lure of the final payment was very real, and after much internal debate, Xiaotian's application was finally approved.

Suer Electric Appliances secured NEC's concessions on refrigerator compressors by settling the final payment.

The two sides have almost reached an agreement, and Ron readily agreed that the payment cycle for the refrigerator would not exceed three months.

This thing is too expensive; I estimate that sales won't pick up much in the first two years after its release.

Since he doesn't have much money, he doesn't need to hold on to it.

Well, he also had another little ulterior motive.

“Mr. Oda, just look at the sapphire and you’ll know that Mumbai’s prosperity is no less than that of an international metropolis.”

“Yes, Mumbai is a good place, and Sapphire is an even better place.” He laughed heartily.

"Yes, my favorite city is Mumbai. Many people here have already started using mobile phones. What do you think the future prospects of this industry are?"

"Oh, Mr. Sue, are you planning to collaborate with NEC on the mobile phone business?" Oda asked seriously. NEC's technological strength is indeed very strong, with a wide range of products, from chips to various industrial equipment and consumer electronics.

Japan's small land area means that companies tend to focus on overseas markets. If Sullair wants to discuss a mobile phone partnership with NEC, it's not out of the question; it aligns with their expansion strategy.

However, the cooperation model and profit sharing are worth discussing in detail, as this is cutting-edge technology globally.

"Mobile phones are still too much of a burden for Suer Electric Appliances; I'm referring to communication services."

"Huh?" Oda was taken aback.

"To be honest, I recently obtained a telecommunications license and am preparing to enter the telecommunications market."

"Yoshi!" Oda looked at Ron with even more admiration.

As far as he knew, Indian telecom licenses were extremely difficult to obtain and very expensive. Without connections, forget about it.

He admired Ron's foresight even more; mobile phones were undoubtedly the future, and NEC had already begun betting on them long ago.

However, in India, where everything moves at a slow pace, very few people have such foresight.

It is remarkable that Ron was able to secure a foothold in the global market when it was still in its infancy.

"So, Mr. Sue, you mean..."

“GSM base station,” Ron said softly.

NEC is also a major global supplier of 2G technology base stations, supporting both GSM and CDMA standards, and widely used in Europe and Asia.

Currently, there are only four brands globally capable of providing communication equipment on a large scale: Ericsson, Nokia, Motorola, and NEC.

Ron believed that NEC dominated half of the Japanese domestic market and that its products had stood the test of time.

Upon hearing his needs, Xiaotian immediately perked up and was no longer as absent-minded as before.

Communication equipment, such as mobile base stations, are things that can influence a country's communication standards.

NEC is certainly interested, especially since India has a population of one billion, making it a staggering market.

If he can lead NEC to a large-scale expansion into the Indian market, then...
Well, it's not impossible to dream about a board seat at headquarters.

"What price is NEC willing to offer?" Ron interrupted his daydream.

"Well, our base station design focuses on compatibility and large-scale deployment, and also supports multi-carrier configuration and high-capacity communication, which has been well received in the European market."

“Yes, but we’re partners, aren’t we? We’ve had a very pleasant time together over the past three years.” Ron began to appeal to emotions.

“Mr. Suer, I agree with you. NEC’s NEAX series base stations based on the GSM platform generally cost between $20 and $50 per unit.”

"If you still need our customized services, then I can take the liberty of giving you an additional 15% discount on the price you just quoted." Xiao Tian waved his hand generously.

Ron, however, secretly gasped. Damn it, this price is anything but beautiful.

Several hundred thousand US dollars each, it doesn't sound expensive.

However, GSM base stations typically have an effective radius of only 0.5-1.5 kilometers, with an actual effective coverage area of ​​approximately 1.5-3.5 square kilometers.

Take Mumbai as an example; the city covers an area of ​​approximately 600 square kilometers. To achieve full mobile phone signal coverage there, around 600 base stations would be needed.

Meanwhile, considering the high-rise buildings and complex electromagnetic environment in the city, an actual number of 900 units is needed to ensure signal coverage without dead zones.

What does 900 mean? Based on an average price of 35, Ron would need to invest over 3 million US dollars to support mobile phone signal coverage in Mumbai.

This is just Mumbai. Add to that Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi, and the future Chennai, and you can forget about it without billions of dollars.

He quickly calculated that this amounted to several hundred billion rupees.

That dog shit, even if you put all his businesses together, he might not be able to sell them for that much money.

Too expensive, might as well not bother.

"Mr. Oda, considering the huge investment required, could NEC adopt the same cooperation model as with the television set?"

"What do you mean?" Xiaotian was taken aback.

"We'll build the communication network first, and then use the profits to gradually pay off the remaining balance."

"Buy on credit?" He subconsciously raised his voice.

"Or you could provide a loan, that would be great too."

“Mr. Suer, you’re really joking.” Oda said, both amused and exasperated. “With such a large investment, headquarters can’t possibly be careless. I’m just from the Electronic Equipment Department, it’s hard for me to influence the Communications Systems Department’s decision.”

“If the Indian government provides a guarantee, could we work together to secure a loan from a Japanese bank?” Ron’s eyes began to gleam.

"It's hard to say; it requires a very complicated review process. Besides, we've never used this kind of cooperation model before, so it probably won't be that easy."

Ron sighed inwardly. Sure enough, with investments of billions of dollars, no one dared to take chances.

It seems that people who live simple lives aren't easily fooled.

He himself has some concerns, as the current signal base stations only cover certain areas. If coverage were to extend across all of India, the number could potentially reach tens of thousands.

He can fool someone once, but he can't fool someone a second time.

Not only would their international reputation be ruined, but they could also damage their own brand.

Tsk, the bigger the operation, the more Ron starts to care about his reputation.
NEC's products were still too expensive, so he turned his attention to the east.

(End of this chapter)