Reborn as the richest man in India

"Uncle Singh, I am very serious." Qiao Ge said with a serious face, "If the bank does not help us, we will definitely not be able to get the 500,000, because we have nothing. If we borrow another 200,000 rupees, I believe that we will My father’s reputation and management over the years will definitely be able to repay the capital with interest in a few years, no, just one year.”

Singer couldn't help but glance at Qiao Ge in surprise. This kid was threatening him.

But there is some truth in what he said.

If the regulations are followed and all the Gupta family's property is taken away, the bank will still lose more than 500,000 rupees. How can you expect a family living in a slum to pay back so much money?

This became a bad debt.

Banks have assessments for loans. As a credit manager, he knows this very well.

"The last time your father was able to lend so much, it was actually because of my long-term friendship with him. Of course, your father is an honest man and has credibility, which is why I dared to borrow more. It's a pity that he is too impulsive. , He was not like this before." Singer still did not directly answer Qiaogo's request.

In fact, India's economic reforms began in the early 1980s, but they were not as intensive as in 1991.

Last year, we relaxed restrictions on private enterprises, vigorously introduced foreign investment and foreign advanced technology, and reformed public enterprises.

This provides great opportunities for private enterprises to grow.

Bank loans are beginning to favor some private companies, but it is often those large private companies that want bank loans.

Small and medium-sized enterprises still have little chance.

Gupta's loan this time is equivalent to a credit loan. After all, the value of the collateral is far less than the loan amount.

Originally, it was impossible for a small workshop owner like him to obtain a credit loan from the bank. The main reason was the relationship between Singer and him, which was considered a case of using power for personal gain.

Small businesses that want to get loans usually get them from large private companies.

Because it is easy for large private companies to obtain low-interest credit loans from banks, and then they lend the excess to others at high interest rates. Naturally, there is various collusion between government and business.

India is very dark and complex in this regard.

At the same time, the Indian government has revised the law to encourage small businesses to raise funds directly from the public to invest in various projects. It is basically raising funds. If it is illegal, then it doesn’t matter.

In addition to a loan from the bank last time, the elder Gupta also raised funds from many acquaintances around him.

After the bankruptcy, these people raised funds to borrow money, but Gupta did not default on the debt. He sold cars, gold jewelry, and everything he could sell at home. The bank was really powerless.

"My father has been cautious all his life, but~~" Qiao Ge didn't know what to say about this cheap father.

"What kind of person do you think your father is in business?" Singer thought for a while and asked.

Qiao Ge stared at Singer for a while, then withdrew his gaze.

He probably understood that if his answer did not satisfy him, his request might not be approved.

"I just said to be cautious, of course, it sounds nice. If it doesn't sound nice, then it means being conservative, traditional, timid, and short-sighted." Qiao Ge considered his words.

Qiao Ge was not completely lying.

India is a major cotton growing country, with output almost ranking second in the world, accounting for 25% of global cotton production.

Mumbai is the center of India's cotton textile industry. There are a large number of related factories and enterprises here. The export of cotton and cotton textile products is one of the important sources of foreign exchange for India.

There are five small workshops under the elder Gupta's name, all of which produce cotton textiles, but none of the small workshops has more than seven employees.

If it were in China, it could be merged into a small factory, but it's different in India.

India's labor laws protect employees very well, and it is very difficult to fire an employee.

Beyond that are the Indian trade unions.

The trade union in India is a very powerful organization. It has the right to conduct collective bargaining with employers, demanding higher wages, improved working conditions, improved benefits, etc. If the negotiations fail to achieve satisfactory results, the trade union can organize a strike, and the strike will give the employer bring huge losses.

Indian law stipulates that seven or more people can form a trade union. Therefore, in order to avoid these troubles, most small workshops will not have more than seven employees.

This results in everyone being unwilling to make the company bigger and stronger.

This is the case of the old Gupta, who was divided into five small workshops. The number of employees in each small workshop did not exceed the limit, so a union could not be established.

This is a kind of taking advantage of loopholes.

If the company gets bigger and has more than 100 employees, it will not be so easy to fire employees even if they make mistakes.

The consent of the local government must be sought before dismissal. For the sake of employment and stability, the government often will not agree.

There was a news story about an Indian employee who was still sleeping in the company at 11 a.m., but his boss fired him after repeated warnings failed. Then the employee sued the court. Later, the court agreed with the employee's demands and forced the factory to rehire him. It was not until 17 years later that the factory sued and successfully fired the employees.

Therefore, many larger companies will control the number of employees below 100, so that it is relatively easy to fire employees.

India's labor laws are friendly to employees, but they are a burden to companies, causing them to not want to grow bigger and take on more responsibilities. This is a contradiction.

Singh was a little surprised. He didn't expect this kid to say such a thing. This was a completely negative evaluation of the old Gupta.

He is very familiar with Qiao Ge. After all, their two families have a good relationship and often communicate with each other.

This guy is very good at studies and is said to be able to get into the Indian Institute of Technology, the best university in India.

You must know that the admission rate of Indian Institute of Technology is shockingly low. It is the most difficult university in the world to get into, even more difficult than Tsinghua University and Peking University in China.

Those who come out of polytechnics are the best of the best.

There is a saying in India that goes like this: "Only those who cannot get into the Indian Institute of Technology will get into the MIT."

This is actually an Indian saying, but it also shows that Indian Institute of Technology is indeed very good.

When the elder Guptas talked about Qiaogo, they looked proud and were very satisfied with their son. International school tuition is expensive, but it is worth it.

"Young men at this age are always a little rebellious." Singer secretly thought. It was precisely because of his rebellion that he gave his father this evaluation.

"In order to avoid troubles with labor laws and trade unions, my father had no plans to expand his business. This was because he was short-sighted and conservative. This time he made a breakthrough, but unfortunately he was irrational and was completely carried away by a little money. , fell into someone else’s scam.” Qiaogo continued.

"So, in your eyes, your father is really not that good." Singer said.

"No, he still has many advantages, such as being honest, trustworthy, and not harsh on his employees. I believe Uncle Singh knows this."

There is no blind disparagement, the elder Gupta certainly has his merits.

The wages of the employees in his workshop are about 20% higher than those of their counterparts. This is due to the kindness of old Gupta. Moreover, he himself started doing odd jobs in these small workshops, so he knows how difficult it is.

After he became prosperous, he still gave preferential treatment to these latecomers.

For business partners, the elder Gupta is very trustworthy, generous in his work, and has a very good reputation.

"Your father is sincere and a good man." Singer shook his head in agreement. Qiao Ge's evaluation was quite pertinent.

Let’s talk about some differences in India.

In India, nodding means ‘no’ and ‘disagree’, while shaking the head means ‘yes’ and ‘agree’.

"What can you do even if you get 200,000 rupees?" Singh couldn't help but ask when he saw that Qiaogo didn't say anything.

"Continue to make exports for the time being." Qiaogo replied immediately.

"Export? Export of cotton textiles?" Singh asked again.

"Yes, I believe I can pay off the loan within a year. Now I just need the deposit for stocking up." Qiao Ge said.

Qiao Ge was not sure whether he could repay the loan within a year, but now he could only launch the satellite first.

There were not even a few paisleys left in the house.

Indian currency rupee, 1 rupee is equal to 100 paise.

Therefore, we can only borrow money and try to make a comeback.

"What do you think? I couldn't say no before. Based on your father's reputation, you can indeed get the goods with a smaller deposit. But now, even if you get the goods, I'm afraid you won't be able to export them." Singer sighed.

Qiaogo didn't quite understand what Singh said. In his opinion, Singh was just making excuses not to borrow 200,000 rupees.

At this time, a news came from the radio, which was broadcasting local news in Mumbai, about the port workers' strike and demonstration.

Hearing this, Singer pointed to the radio and said, "Did you hear that? There's a strike. Do you know why it's a strike?"

Qiaogo immediately replied: "There is too little work at the docks and they cannot support their families."

"Then why is there less work?" Singer explained. "The Suez Canal is blocked. I heard that the time it takes for each ship to pass is more than ten times as long as before. Now countless ships are queuing there, and it's almost two hours. Months. Most of the goods here at the port are sold to Europe. If the canal is blocked, it will be difficult for this ship to sail out. If we go around the Cape of Good Hope in Africa, the distance will increase too much and the freight will rise sharply. Therefore, some items that are not too urgent Europe has temporarily stopped receiving goods such as cotton and cotton textiles. This has caused the goods at the port terminals to pile up and the warehouses to be full. These workers have no work to do. Your father's previous customers were all from Europe. It seems to be from the UK. Even if you have the goods ready at this time, can you sell them?"

Qiao Ge was stunned for a moment, he really didn't know about this.

As a result, it would be impossible for him to make money from exports to pay off his debts. Even if Uncle Singh had a good relationship with his father, he would not be able to borrow 200,000 rupees for no reason.

Qiao Ge opened his mouth and wanted to fight for it, but found that he could not convince the other party with a very effective reason.

I have been thinking about foreign trade exports for almost a whole night and feel that there is a good chance.

Unexpectedly, there was a problem on the Suez Canal side, which was beyond his expectation.

This resulted in the complete bankruptcy of his possible self-rescue plan.

Even if you have 200,000 rupees in your hand, what can you do?

Qiao Ge really hasn’t thought about it yet.

A huge blow and a bad start.

"So, how can you pay off your debt?" Singer sighed, "I really want to help you, but you can't."

Jogo kept thinking in his mind, and he didn't want to give up yet.

The broadcast on the radio continued. When he saw the radio, he suddenly had an idea.

"Uncle Singh, did I say we were going to sell it to the British? That group of liars." Qiaogo said with a smile.

"What do you mean?" Qiao Ge's words made Singer confused for a moment. "Then who are you selling to? The boat can't leave."

"Not everywhere has to go through the Suez Canal." Qiaogo replied, "Actually, I had already contacted the Chinese when I came here."

"Chinese?" Singer's eyes widened. This jump was a bit big.

"Don't Uncle Singh know?" Qiao Ge asked in surprise, "They have been in Mumbai for more than ten days."

"I seem to have heard that they are a business group here for exchanges, hoping to promote trade exchanges between the two countries, but it seems that no one is willing to do business with them." Singh thought for a while.

India is resistant to the Chinese, and Qiaogo knows this well.

In 1962, after the Sino-Indian War, the relationship between the two countries was not good.

Although relations have recovered somewhat now, the Indian government and people are still hostile. After all, India has forcibly turned its war of aggression into a battle to defend New Delhi.

Some of them were mentioned in the broadcast just now, and some of them were thought of by Qiao Ge himself.

The Mumbai government is not too enthusiastic about the Chinese business delegation. The matter of cooperation is just words without much practical action.

Some officials even privately told some local factories and companies not to do business with the Chinese.

"No one is doing business with them, isn't that just my opportunity?" Qiaogo said.

"The people above are not willing, do you understand?" Singer frowned. Of course he knew some inside information.

"Uncle Singh, I remember that the Prime Minister mentioned China in his speech a few days ago, especially the rapid economic development after China's reform and opening up, which amazed him, and that he hoped to visit China to improve relations between the two countries. Enhance communication between the two parties." This was retrieved from the memory of the original owner after Qiaogo heard the news on the radio.

He had seen the news in the Times of India at that time.

There are many newspapers in India and they are written in a variety of languages.

The official languages ​​of India are Hindi and English, and many states have their own local official languages.

For example, Jogo’s hometown of Gujarat speaks Gujarati.

Mumbai is the capital of the state of Maharashtra, where Marathi is the official language.

The original owner can speak Gujarati, Hindi, Marathi and English, and the English is very fluent and standard. The all-English education in international schools is not covered, so now Jogo has also inherited these four languages. Coupled with the original Chinese, it is equivalent to having five languages, which is an incredible achievement.

Bhaskar Daily is the largest circulating Hindi newspaper in India and The Times of India is the largest circulating English newspaper in India.

In terms of circulation, Bhaskar Daily is much larger than Times of India.

However, in terms of status and influence, there is a certain gap between newspapers in Hindi and regional languages ​​and English newspapers. English still dominates media discourse.

The Indian elite basically speaks English, so the main readership of The Times of India is India's middle and upper classes. Some major libraries and government agencies at home and abroad also often subscribe to this newspaper.

Fraser International School subscribes to The Times of India, of course.

The current Prime Minister of India is Rajiv Gandhi. In fact, he paid an official visit to China from December 19 to 23, 1988. This was the first visit to China by an Indian Prime Minister in 34 years.

This is an important turning point in the history of Sino-Indian relations. It ended the long-term hostility between the two countries and laid the foundation for the improvement and development of bilateral relations.