By Tarunkumar Singhal, Raman Jokhakar, Chartered Accountants
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A leading Gujarati industrialist recently asked me the reason for the drop in the pecking order of Marwaris in India’s top business groups. We tried to name a few potential next generation leaders from the community. Except for Kumar Birla, Prashant Ruia, Rajiv Bajaj, all now above 40 years, none else came to mind.
Rewind to early 20th century. The Marwaris exemplified a feisty and formidable spirit— traders who escaped the barren business landscape of their homes and created trading outposts in remote areas. Many of them had settled in Kolkata, which emerged as a commercial hub and offered manifold trading opportunities. Over time, they tried their hand at manufacturing which, after Independence, was clearly the future. But, as long as the manufacturing activity involved commodities and the economy was protected, it was fine. The moment there was a shift in the ruling industry paradigm, the pre-dominant Marwari business construct seems to have got challenged.
The community is currently exercised by an unavoidable question: Has the spirit of Marwari enterprise started flagging? The provocation for such introspection stems from the rise of a new entrepreneurial class in India which comprises very few Marwaris and consists of primarily Gujaratis, Punjabis and South Indian industrial groups. Over the past few years, the leaders in emerging industry categories— infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, information technology, telecom—have been markedly non-Marwaris.
(Source: Times of India dated 14-11-2012)
