During our visit to Ludhiana (India’s manufacturing hub) in Leg 1, we were fortunate to have visited the factory of Rajnish International, which specializes in the manufacturing and export of diesel fuel injection spares and other components for the auto industry. While Rajnish takes pride in having developed the vast majority of its production technology in-house, we were shown one Fanuc machine that performs an aspect of the steel cutting process that is too intricate for the domestic technology.

in-house technology at Rajnish Int'l

Fast forward to our trip to Kolkata, where we visited the manufacturing facility of formal menswear brand, Success, and learned that all of their polyester is imported from Teijin Fibers. The Japanese textile manufacturer’s product is described as superior to its cheaper Chinese counterparts in fabric quality and dye (particularly black), and this gives Teijin its edge. In Aizawl, we spotted DVD’s of Japanese soap operas being sold on the street (although Korean dramas were more popular) and L&T-Komatsu construction equipment at work on the road from the airport to the hotel. In Bodhgaya, we visited Japanese shrines and encountered several hotels and restaurants with signs catered to the hoards of Japanese tourists. Even at home in Mumbai, TATA Hitachi machinery can often be seen at construction sites and the annoyingly catchy tune of TATA DoCoMo ads has us reaching for our remotes during commercial breaks.

Japanese sign in Bodhgaya

Komatsu building Mizoram

Aside from private ventures, projects are being undertaken on a government-level to strengthen economic ties: the USD 90 billion Delhi-Mumbai Industrial Corridor being in the spotlight. In September 2009, the Indian Union Cabinet approved an INR 17,700 crore (USD 3.7 billion) conditional loan from Japan to help build the western arm of the corridor. The condition is simple: give the biggest contracts to Japanese companies. As mint points out, the conditions officially state that 1/3 of the total contracts must go to Japanese firms. However, if India uses Japanese equipment to build a part of the corridor, chances are high that it will have to use Japanese equipment to build the whole thing.

Map of the DMIC, source: delhimumbaiindustrialcorridor.com

In Delhi, we were lucky to meet with Amitabh Kant, Principal Secretary & Special Commissioner, Industries (Government of Kerala) and CEO of the DMIC.  He articulated that the project will be managed by an entity resembling a private company, which will effectively streamline the entire investment process for Japanese companies looking to be a part of the project. This is comforting when picturing a scenario where Japanese delegates and their interpreters have to struggle with local agencies for land acquisition rights or a consistent supply of power and water.

The DMIC will certainly serve as a cornerstone of the economic relationship between the two countries, as mint anticipates it will attract new investments of ~USD 50 billion and create jobs along the corridor for several years. While it took slightly longer to hit news pages in Japan, the project finally received coverage in the Nikkei this month and is gradually gathering excitement in the Far East.

Yukio Hatoyama with Manmohan Singh in Dec. 2009, source: thehindu.com

As Japan copes with soon becoming the world’s number 3 economy, the need to maintain a close economic relationship with India will only get stronger. Demographically, India is the dream partner for a graying Japan who has slowly but surely been running out of gas. On the flip side, Japan has the organizational and technical expertise to create the infrastructural foundation that India needs to reach the next stage of its development. The hope is that more private ventures and projects like the DMIC are implemented and that politics do not get in the way of what can evolve into one of the world’s most powerful and lucrative economic partnerships.

We have returned to Mumbai after an exhilarating tour of 21 states over 5 months. Adjusting to a normal, static life after an extraordinary, nomadic one is not easy especially when we are trying to internalize all that we experienced as part of our incredible journey.

theindialog has developed into a receptacle of stories and ideas that, we think, merit your consideration. Therefore, we will continue to give you a piece of our minds as at least 2 of the 3 loggers (Mihir & Naman) will travel (frequently, hopefully) as part of a common professional endeavor.

Over the past 150-odd days, we’ve tried to reproduce our encounters with different parts and people of India.With your regularity and encouragement, you often compelled us to take a closer look and make better sense of our surroundings. We sincerely hope that you enjoyed following us as much as we enjoyed writing for you.

Yours truly,

Loggers

P.S.: Continue to check this space as we hope to post brief notes on our macro-impressions of the country soon.

When we arrived at the Tousklifo Hotel, Mr. Anwar’s latest 3-room offering with a lounge cum restaurant in the form of Coffee.com, we had already consumed a pre-dinner meal at Calve, a heritage hotel. Within the first few minutes of talking to the affable Mr. Anwar, we figured that we were on the verge of taking off on an unforgettable experience with this leather engineer turned chef – an intuition of sorts, abetted by Mr. Anwar’s passionate spiel on food. Before he began preparing the soup and baguettes, he guided us to his entertainment center which is a modest basement with a 60-inch screen, a powerful surround sound system, bean bags and couches. Watching a few minutes of football in that ‘den’ was an exhilarating experience; we can only imagine what watching a cricket match or a Formula 1 race would be like!

Mr. Anwar is a leather engineer by training. His arrival in Pondicherry was as unplanned as his foray into the F&B space. As a leather manufacturing consultant, he travelled to several European and Asian nations, before converting his passion to cook, into his profession. Back in 2000, Mr. Anwar opened a coffee cum internet lounge on Mission Street with the promise of offering 2 cornerstones of life to his patrons – food & beverage and the internet. The success of that outlet compelled him to embark on his second venture in the same space, this time with an added dimension of hospitality. Thus, Hotel Touskilfo was born.

It took Mr. Anwar 15 minutes to prepare the French Onion soup and took us one sip to declare that this culinary delight would get a 6/5 on our ratings page. In fact, rating an experience such as this was a futile exercise in quantifying nirvana. The freshly prepared baguettes were perfect accompaniments. During the course of our conversation with Khursheed bhai, we learned more about his penchant for cooking and discovered ours for eating. He openly declared that “if you like good food, you are my slave.” A poignant summary of what this chef can do to you. We were scheduled to depart for Chennai the morning after, but after Mr. Anwar promised us that he would prepare his own version of Dal Bukhara – a legendary lentil preparation, we postponed our departure.

Coffee.com at Hotel Touskilfo

The next day, we (and our appetites) checked in at Hotel Touskilfo for a dal and naan lunch. Chef Anwar’s legendary craftsmanship had manifested itself into a bowl of dal prepared overnight. We simply surrendered ourselves to the most memorable lunch of our excursion. The unexpected finale came in the form of hand-made ice creams. Each of the flavors – chocolate, strawberry, coconut and kesar pista, bowled us over as we struggled to absorb the richness of each preparation (how much we hated the tradeoffs!).

The impact of Coffee.com was total and long lasting in that we struggled to accommodate normal food for the next few days. We long to go back to Pondicherry, not for the beaches or for Auroville, but to be Mr. Anwar’s slaves.

Windmill

Starting from a distance of 15km north of Kanyakumari lies probably the largest density of windmills anywhere in India. Manufacturers, shapes and sizes vary from one windmill to another, but the objective is common – to harness the wind speeds and convert it into energy. European manufacturers such as Vestas and Gamesa along with the Indian supplier Suzlon have a sizeable presence here, providing 750kw, 1.25MW and 1.65MW capacities. Subsidies by the Tamil Nadu government provided a little over a decade ago saw a spurt in growth due to the financial incentives given at that time, which included capital subsidies, income tax exemptions etc.

A view of the wind farm

Wind power constitutes the largest component of renewable energy capacity (70%) in India. The installed capacity is currently a fraction of the cumulative energy demands of the country (~6%[1]) and the potential remains substantial. The MNRE recently announced incentives for wind power generation and sale-back to the grid, on a national scale. Other states need to follow Tamil Nadu’s lead, in conducting research studies on the potential for wind power generation and providing incentives to promote the growth of this industry.

Inside a windmill

Vodafone consistently received EDGE/GPRS connectivity[1] throughout the state, through one of the two methods described above. Even at some of the remotest points in Rameswaram, close to land’s end and Sri Lanka’s border, connectivity was available. On the other hand, Loop Mobile’s data service has been dismal, with no service available anywhere. In addition to the absence of their own towers, the apparent agreements they have with Vodafone and Aircel count for nothing. After repeated complaints to the Loop technical team, there was still no rectification.

These two events seek to highlight the customer service and infrastructure deficiencies of TATA Photon and Loop Mobile respectively. Especially in the latter’s market, with MNP (Multiple Number Portability) coming early next year, serious improvements will need to be made to prevent an outflow of dissatisfied customers to other providers.

While in Kanyakumari, we watched the sun go down (picture). About 140 days ago we were in Kashmir, the northern frontier of India. We’ve already done Jamnagar, Gujarat — Namdhapa, Arunachal Pradesh. Having covered the length and breadth of the country, we are experiencing a certain sense of closure.

This is a memorable moment as we enter the last 10 days of our adventure!