I'm a Master in India

Ron didn't make an immediate decision at the meeting on how to deal with the copycat manufacturer.

He only gathered basic information first, such as the other party's cost control and parts supply channels.

Finally, after everyone's analysis, they found that they likely also imported key components like motors from Singapore.

Because if they used so-called domestic alternatives, the price simply couldn't be driven down.

The Indian government started implementing an "import substitution" policy in the 1950s, aiming to support the development of domestic industrialization.

From large machinery and equipment to small electronic watches, and even certain parts, all were subject to high tariffs of two to three times their value.

Ordinary factory owners simply couldn't afford imported goods and could only use outdated domestic equipment.

Yet, these were also priced ridiculously high, and the costs could only be passed on to the products.

The price of a common desk fan was often higher than 500 rupees.

Surya Appliances took a shortcut, and after clearing customs, they had a continuous supply of good quality and low-priced raw materials coming in.

This is also why Surya Appliances' products were significantly lower than the market price.

Now that policies are opening up and tariffs are gradually decreasing, other factories are also starting to find similar channels.

Competition seems to be getting more and more intense.

"Boss," Ashish cautiously knocked on the door.

"Did you collect the information on Sunil Appliances? Is it ready?"

"It's all here," Ashish eagerly handed over a file bag.

"How has the factory been lately?" Ron casually opened it.

"The factory is fine, but the workers are very agitated!"

"Hmm?" Ron looked up.

"They all say that the boss of Sunil Appliances is a villain, and he wants to steal everyone's rice bowl."

Ashish stealthily observed Ron's expression, then exaggeratedly recounted the matter.

Essentially, the workers learned about this and were clamoring to go and smash the other factory.

They wouldn't allow anything that threatened Surya Appliances to exist, and even more so, they wouldn't allow their livelihood to be at risk of disappearing.

They couldn't find higher-paying jobs in Mumbai than here, nor could they find a factory owner like Ron who treated them like human beings.

"People in the slums are preparing to organize people to protest at the other factory's gate."

"Are you instigating them behind the scenes?" Ron looked at him.

"Uh, Boss, all of this comes from everyone's heart," Ashish felt a little guilty.

"Let the workers focus on production, I'll handle the other things. Surya Appliances has a lot of backlogged orders here, and the rainy season isn't over yet, who knows when the power will go out again."

Ron didn't want the workers to get involved in this matter. Besides fearing unnecessary trouble, the orders in hand were also an issue.

Although India is vast and rich in resources, energy is extremely scarce.

Take electricity, for example. Not to mention rural areas, even large cities like Mumbai experience power outages every now and then.

Especially during the rainy season, it's common for lines to be burned out.

Repairmen are slow, and even with tips, it takes three to five days to get things done.

Due to the power outage, Surya Appliances' production in July is expected to be 30% lower than last month.

In a situation of urgent production capacity, there's no time for demonstrations and protests. The right thing to do is to seize the time to produce.

Those are all profits, all rupees!

As for that Sunil Appliances, Ron was thinking of other ways.

"Ashish, go and find out what kind of background that Sunil has."

"Yes, Boss." Ashish has also made some newspaper friends recently.

Surya Appliances is no longer unknown in Mumbai, and local newspapers in Maharashtra often come to report.

Naturally, they became familiar after a while.

Signaling Raju to make a cup of tea, Ron immediately picked up the file on the desk and began to read.

Sunil Appliances, or rather, Fengshen Electric Fans, was established about five years ago.

This time period is a bit interesting, as it was right at the end of the 1980s, the brewing stage when the Indian economy was gradually falling into crisis.

From this alone, it can be inferred that Sunil Appliances should have some background.

1991 was a watershed year for the Indian business world. Companies established before that year more or less had political connections.

At that time, the license system had not yet been abolished, and the areas that private enterprises could enter were firmly tied by a maze of rules and regulations.

What a company could produce, what technology it could use, and who it could employ were all strictly regulated.

Giant enterprises like Tata controlled basic industries such as oil, energy, steel, and ports.

They had strong financial resources and could obtain licenses for related industries through bribery, and then develop within this rigid system to a limited extent.

But these large companies faced no foreign rivals, and their efficiency was also very low.

Because the people at the helm of these families were not thinking about how to produce more competitive products.

Instead, they were thinking about how to get the favor of politicians. As long as they smoothed out relationships, they had the opportunity to expand their business territory.

Apart from these heavy industries, the remaining hundreds of commodities, such as pickles, matches, padlocks, and wooden furniture, were left to smaller companies with limited scale and general productivity.

This legacy of Gandhism made "Made in India" synonymous with low quality.

They had no foreign enemies, did not participate in global competition, and the license system restricted the entry of latecomers.

The huge and closed Indian market allowed them to do whatever they wanted.

Then they discovered that even if their products were terrible, people would still buy them. There was no shortage of market.

High import tariffs made almost all overseas goods luxuries, and goods from many countries could not be imported.

Commodity shortages were the norm at that time. If someone wanted to buy a small motorcycle, it would take nearly ten years from placing the order to getting it.

Finally, this forced the emergence of handmade motorcycle shops. Indian vendors collected parts everywhere, either used or smuggled from the Persian Gulf.

Then they would assemble these parts of various origins and conditions into a new motorcycle for sale.

Even clothes could only be bought in basic styles, mostly made by local tailors.

Telephones were a luxury. Without giving gifts and waiting patiently, you simply couldn't buy one.

Some families even included telephones in their wills, as part of their family property, to be divided among their sons.

This distorted and twisted market became a playground for large enterprises.

They were not satisfied with the industries limited by licenses and began to expand aimlessly in all directions.

Tata entered the clothing, hotel, and catering industries, and Reliance entered the jewelry and transportation industries. You wouldn't be surprised to see them selling pizza and soft drinks on the street.

In short, at that time, everyone did business without rules. Private enterprises with the ability to obtain licenses tried every means to expand.

However, this newly renamed Sunil Appliances has always focused on the electric fan market and does not have other cross-category products under its name.

It was only recently that they quietly began to extend their reach into the evaporative cooler market.

This indicates that the other party has some connections, but not many, and cannot obtain licenses for more areas.

Tsk, this makes things much easier.

Ron was afraid of encountering deeply entrenched large enterprises, where even the Shiv Sena would be useless.

Because the other party's connections were in New Delhi, far beyond what he, with his thin arms and legs, could provoke at the moment.

Fortunately, those large families have focused their business on heavy industry and energy, and the appliance industry, except for Tata's slight involvement, has not yet seen a dominant brand.

This is also created by India's special market environment, after all, the potential users of electrical products are the middle class.

But India is too poor, and the current size of the middle class is not enough to attract those giants to enter the market.

They do national business, with project transaction amounts often in the hundreds of millions, so how could they look down on a business like electric fans, which is worth only a few hundred rupees.

The only one who entered the market, Tata, now only makes high-end products like air conditioners. The latter are mostly priced above 20,000 rupees, which the middle class cannot afford.

However, this is just right. This is the best time for Surya Appliances to expand.

As the economy opens up, in a few years, India's middle class will grow, and there is no reason for those large enterprises to stand by and watch.

The most urgent task is to expand, expand, and expand again.

This Sunil Appliances must be eliminated. Ron needs to gain valuable development time for his company.

Thinking of this, he picked up the phone on the desk.

"Kavya, do me a favor."

"Not the office! You bad guy tore my new dress last time."

Ron was taken aback and almost laughed out loud, "I'll go shopping for a new one with you another day, but this time it's not the office, you help me write an article."

"An article?"

"Yes, didn't you say you have commissioned articles with many newspapers?"

"What do you want to write?" she asked.

"Many things, pick what you're good at, like the reincarnation of the sun god, shoddy goods passed off as quality, the plight of Indian national enterprises..."

Ron rattled off a long list, which left Kavya dumbfounded.

"Brother, who on earth offended you?"

"A clumsy imitator, I'll send you a fax later."

"With so much content, I need to find some helpers."

"No problem, I know the rules. Tell your journalist friends that the travel expenses are covered."

"I really feel sorry for that guy," Kavya hung up the phone.

Ron chuckled softly, then began to ponder his next plan.

He didn't plan to use political power, so naturally, he could only start with public opinion.

Coincidentally, he had such resources, and with a little more money, he could almost buy off most of the newspapers in Mumbai.

Who told him that Dr. Ron had a good reputation, and he paid promptly, so everyone was willing to give him some face.

Actually, purely relying on commercial competition, that copycat factory was no match for Surya Appliances.

Ron saw their electric fan products, and they lived up to the name "Made in India."

The suspicious fan blades were of different shapes, and some screws weren't even tightened.

The funniest thing was that after Ashish and the others disassembled one, they couldn't put it back together.

Because the parts were out of tolerance, it was difficult to restore them after disassembly.

Ron strongly suspected that they had hammered them in during assembly.

Even the products of Surya Appliances, a factory newly involved in electric fans, were more reliable than the other party's five years of manufacturing experience.

The products made by the three brothers might not have a high upper limit, but their lower limit is definitely low enough.

Ron was confident that he could squeeze the other party out of the market, but he couldn't wait.

He didn't have time to waste with the other party, and incidentally, he also wanted to give a warning to other eager manufacturers that Surya Appliances was not to be trifled with.