Although Mumbai is the headquarters of the Tata Group, Tata Motors is located 140 kilometres away in the city of Pune, both of which are part of the state of Maharashtra, which is the equivalent of a province in China.

With a population of 3 million, Pune is the seventh largest city in India and is actually a satellite city of Mumbai in a sense. After all, only 140 kilometers away, it is normal for Pune to be exposed to radiation from the megacity of Mumbai.

"Tomorrow at 9 o'clock in the morning, the Tata Group will prepare a helicopter to take you to Pune city, and the rest of our entourage will depart early by car and then meet together.

After visiting the Tata Motors plant, the Mayor of Pune will invite you to hold a meeting to present your investment in the country. ”

The accompanying secretary reported to Han Hao about tomorrow's trip.

"The Indians are still paying for it, for fear that we will run away, and this hospitality standard is comparable to the treatment of small heads of state. ”

After listening to the introduction, Han Hao said with a smile.

"You refused to take a helicopter ride for me, saying that I wanted to see the real situation in India up close, so I took a bus with you. ”

Since they came from China together, Han Hao naturally won't be special, so he will act with everyone. Seeing is believing, many things in books may change with the times, and Han Hao must use his own eyes to truly understand the country of India.

The secretary accepted the instructions and quickly went over to communicate with the liaison officer of the Indian side to change the operational arrangements for tomorrow.

"Tuk-tuk—"

There was a knock on the door, and when Han Hao opened the door, it turned out to be Ma Hongwen, a researcher at the Ministry of Commerce, followed by two young people, one of whom was standing straight.

"Teacher Ma, what's the matter with you?"

"Mr. Han, these two are the staff of our country's consulate in Mumbai. This is Xiao Zheng, who is in charge of business activities, and the other is Xiao Yanagi, who is in charge of security, and they are the helpers sent by the consulate to assist us in our work. In case we encounter something in India, they are familiar with the local situation and can come forward to deal with it. ”

Ma Hongwen has studied the situation on the South Asian continent for more than 20 years, so he is a good friend of the consul in Mumbai, who specially sent someone to help.

After saying hello, Han Hao warmly welcomed the arrival of the two, as an outsider, he was indeed in the local area, and he needed the cooperation of people who were familiar with the local situation.

Xiao Yanagi came in and looked around, and found that Han Hao was the only one indoors, and the richest man was also big-hearted. He has received several Hong Kong tycoons, all of whom are bodyguards, surrounded by three layers inside and three layers outside, but Han Hao is a maverick.

"I'm used to it, the domestic security situation is good, many entrepreneurs are drivers and bodyguards for two people to travel in one car, I prefer to drive by myself, so I don't need bodyguards for the time being.

India's security is okay, the Tata Group is responsible for the reception, and there is no need to make a fuss about going abroad this time. ”

After listening to Xiaoliu's inquiry about security, Han Hao explained.

Compared with the frightened kidnapping case of Hong Kong tycoons, on the contrary, mainland tycoons are more calm, and many bigwigs of the Federation of Industry and Commerce are drivers and bodyguards who pick up and drop off by bicycle, unlike Hong Kong tycoons who pay attention to security pomp and circumstance.

Early the next morning, Han Hao and his entourage boarded a bus to Pune and visited the Tata Motors factory together with two members of the consulate.

Sitting on the bus, Han Hao once again felt the real side of India, known as the best highway in India, the two-way six-lane Mengpu Expressway, which was built in 2001, was potholed because of the lack of maintenance.

The journey of Highway 140 took more than 2 hours, and it is no wonder that Ratan came by helicopter himself, and the comfort and convenience are not on the same level.

Accompanied by Latan, the Chinese guests began their visit.

Compared with the world-class production line of the China Group, Tata Motors' equipment is at least ten years behind, and the level of craftsmanship is also behind the Chinese.

Of course, this is also related to the fact that the Indian side pays attention to cost savings, and they do not have high requirements for the quality control of automobiles, as long as there are no major problems, they can accept it. You get what you pay for, and Tata Motors' launch of a low-priced sedan is bound to save on cost.

"To be honest, this line is a second-hand product that we imported from Spain, and it is indeed a bit old. We had a plan to replace the new equipment early on, but it was delayed due to financial reasons. ”

Seeing Han Hao's unhappy look, Ratan said very frankly.

"Originally, I thought that I could renovate the production line within the scope of the old factory, but now it seems that the most reasonable option is to rebuild the factory. ”

Han Hao already has a preliminary plan in his heart, and the most suitable products in the Indian market are Hongguang and QQ, and the production hardware of Tata is unable to produce qualified products. The best option is to use completely new production equipment, like a Russian factory, which can control both quality and scale.

Just as Han Hao was visiting, with a snap, the power supply of the factory was interrupted, and the workshop where the machine roared just now suddenly quieted down.

"Damn, I said that I want to ensure the supply of electricity, especially not to make a mess today, what the hell are those people in the city power supply department doing! They only patted their chests in front of me last month to make sure that there is no mess, what a bunch of wretched. ”

The disgrace in front of the Chinese guests made Ratan angry, and he roared and shouted at his subordinates.

When investing in a place, the first issue is whether the infrastructure can keep up, and the second is the issue of government services.

It is clear that the basic environment of Pune is not as good as it is boasted to be to the outside world.

Han Hao's investment this time intends to launch a motorcycle and car project together, and the requirements for power supply are more stringent, but he did not expect that the performance of Pune, a well-known industrial base in India, is really average.

After a power outage, the workshop visit could only be interrupted, and Han Hao was invited to test drive the Indigo car produced by Tata Motors. After driving around the factory, Han Hao found that this micro sedan with a similar size to QQ was far inferior to QQ in any aspect.

"There's a lot of room for improvement, but it's a very good product for India, because I've been here to see it on the streets. ”

Getting out of the car, Han Hao said to Latan.

At noon, the mayor of Pune, Du Peng, hosted a banquet to entertain Han Hao, who knew that Han Hao, who was the richest man in China, was planning to invest in India, and Pune was the place to be considered. But he clearly has more respect for Rattan, and as elected mayor, Tata Motors' influence in the local area is something he cannot afford to offend.

As soon as they met, Ratan complained to Dupont about the power outage, which made the mayor feel bad. He immediately called his men to deal with it quickly, trying to satisfy Rattan.

Knowing that if the joint venture project is implemented, it will require about 5 square kilometers of land, a total of 7,500 acres of land, and Mayor Du Peng made a difficulty. There are not so many land resources in Pune, and if he wants to raise them, he must carry out land acquisition activities, and he is about to run for re-election, and he does not want to offend the peasant groups in the area.

"The land problem is very scarce in the city now, if it is 2,000 acres, I can say yes. However, the amount of 7,500 acres has to be re-acquired, which will take some time. ”

Dupont wants the joint venture project to land, but he cares more about his own votes, and he must fight for re-election. After all, Tata Motors is in the local area, and the joint venture project cannot run, this is his strategy.

This "certain time" is suspenseful, and it will take two years at the fastest and two years at the earliest, and it is not guaranteed. For Han Hao, who is time is money, it is imminent to enter the Indian market, and he can't wait so long.

If it really doesn't work, the only way to do this is to renovate Tata Motors' production line on the spot and develop it on a small scale. There is also a motorcycle factory, so you have to find another place to rebuild the factory.

"Land acquisition is a very tricky thing in India and often leads to a lot of conflict. In my understanding, if you want to rebuild the factory in Pune, you will not be able to do it for three or five years. India's local governments are not as enforceable as China's, they are used to procrastination, and what they promise to do is likely to be just empty promises. ”

Researcher Ma Hongwen analyzed Han Hao on the way back.

Feeling the traffic congestion in Mumbai again, Han Hao and his party finally returned to the hotel.

However, as soon as he walked into the hall, he was stopped by the waiter, saying that someone was looking for him. He didn't have any old knowledge in India, and Han Hao wondered who was looking for him.

At this time, a middle-aged Indian man with gray hair and a beard took the initiative to step forward, followed by two entourages, and introduced his identity to Han Hao.

"Hello, my name is Modi and I am from Gujarat and I am the Chief Minister of the state. Dear Chinese guests, I would like to take a moment to introduce you to the investment environment of our state of Gujarat. ”

After listening to the other party's introduction, although Han Hao didn't know the identity of the other party, he could guess that it was a familiar scene of competition for big investors between various provinces in China. A large-scale investment project often triggers competition among domestic provinces, and now the Zhonghua Group has invested heavily in India, and for some reason the news has leaked out.

"He is a well-known reformist in Indian politics who is bent on learning from the experience of China's economic take-off. It is said that he admired the model of reform in our Nanyue Province very much and wanted to transplant the experience of Nanyue to India. ”

At this time, the accompanying experts from the Ministry of Commerce came in handy, and Ma Hongwen whispered in Han Hao's ear.

"I'm honored, but I've just come back from outside, and I've had a hard time. If you don't mind, I'd like to wash up a little before having a face-to-face meeting with you. ”

In order to deal with it more strategically, Han Hao decided to take the opportunity to inquire for more information in the name of rest before talking to the other party.

Modi nodded, indicating that it was understandable, and said that he was waiting in the hall, and Han Hao could start a conversation with him at any time if it was convenient.

"Minister, why do we plead with the Chinese so quietly, they don't care that you have been waiting here for nearly two hours. And we had a border war with the Chinese decades ago, and they don't deserve to be treated like that. ”

Seeing Han Hao's back as he walked away, a young subordinate whispered to Modi.

"China has fought wars with the world's major powers in the past 100 years, and the so-called invasion of China by the so-called Eight-Nation Alliance is a national shame for them. Not only us, India, but also the Chinese dared to directly argue with the United States and the Soviet Union at the two levels in the world at that time.

But now, in order to develop the economy, they are aggressively welcoming their former enemies to invest in their country. Only when we are backward can we be beaten, and only when we develop can we win; this is the experience summed up by the Chinese with blood and tears.

We must be good at learning from their strengths, and you must not have read the "Selected Writings of Deng Gong" that I asked you to read, which is the secret of China's rise.

Chinese officials are suffering much worse than we do now in order to welcome investors. We keep saying that we want to learn from the Nanyue model, but this is actually a test for us. ”

Modi touched his beard and said earnestly.