Baba Kalyani Quotes

Baba Kalyani

Profession : Businessman

Birth : January 7, 1949

The year 2013 has been very difficult, with a lot of headwinds in almost every region and every business.

Baba Kalyani

India has the capability to create a fairly extensive defence manufacturing capability in many areas, and as a country and as an industry, we have matured in terms of technology and capability to make this happen.

Baba Kalyani

There is a feeling within our system that defence equipment can't be made here and should be imported. I wanted to break this myth, so we spent our money and made a product to prove we have capability in this country, so don't just brush us aside.

Baba Kalyani

Our company is very diversified, both in terms of geography and in terms of products.

Baba Kalyani

With liberalisation, Indian industry gained international exposure because of which it became imperative for companies to rework their strategies to become globally competitive.

Baba Kalyani

At the Bangalore air show, we got a contract from Boeing for supplying structural components, and we are already supplying jet engine components to Rolls Royce. Both these are titanium-based, not steel components.

Baba Kalyani

The most important part of any acquisition is your ability to culturally integrate the people in the companies you acquire and your company.

Baba Kalyani

When I returned from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1972, my father was running a forging business with a turnover of Rs 3.5 crore. But I had no patience and wanted to grow the business via exports.

Baba Kalyani

If my strength is technology, financial structuring is my son's skill.

Baba Kalyani

Before 2000, we were unable to design a single car; all the cars were designed in Japan, Europe or somewhere else. We were just converting.

Baba Kalyani

I am a self-taught water skier and wind surfer.

Baba Kalyani

India is the second biggest defence procurer in the world after the U.S.

Baba Kalyani

Our strategy should be based on indigenisation and import substitution. The government must provide opportunities for domestic companies to participate in sectors in which the country continues to depend on imports.

Baba Kalyani

Politicians said that with our cheap labour, we could be competitive in the world. Nothing could be further from the truth. We were the most uncompetitive country with that cheap labour.

Baba Kalyani

I had the option of building a career in the U.S. Many of my friends who went at the time did not come back, but for me, building the family business and being with family was worth it. I became a general manager within four months, as I used my education to improve productivity and output.

Baba Kalyani

We need to just study what other countries have done. There are examples of a strong partnership between the defence establishment and the private industry.

Baba Kalyani

Bofors was a steelmaker that became a forgings company and then went on to build guns. Companies like Krupp and Thyssen were in steel and forgings before entering defence. There are similar examples in the U.K.; it is a natural progression.

Baba Kalyani

If India has to achieve exponential growth, it would have to be on the back of strong growth in the manufacturing sector.

Baba Kalyani

We book our exports forward for more than a year, and so we have a fixed rate. We do not get the spot rate that we see in the market every day.

Baba Kalyani

Challenges give me a kick. The day I stop getting challenges, I would quit.

Baba Kalyani