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Jeh Wadia

Sensex soars while the Aviation Sector continues Diving…Could open out opportunities

August 18,2009…Private Airlines,members of FIA,have just announced that will not operate nationwide services on this Day…only for the Day…but could even be indefinitely if there is no positive response from the government

This announcement comes on a day when the Sensex has reached the highest level in fourteen months …15670 

The Aviation Sector is facing a survival issue in India…says Naresh Goyal of Jet Airways all of us are bleeding…private sector or the public sector”

Vijay Mallya of Kingfisher Airlines cries “we lose money because we are taxed to death”

Jeh Wadia of Go Airways laments that the policy and tax structure continue to create inefficiencies“We are demanding a Transperant Tax Structure…Fuel as a % of Total Cost is 45% in India while everywhere in the world it is 26 %…this is because of higher taxes of @ 27% on ATF..This Tax on ATF should be given a ‘declared goods’ status to bring the taxes down”

The Heavy Depreciation of the Rupee in 2008/9 has also increased the cost of Operations and Maintenance of Airplanes.The Sector should reveal a Rs 10000 crs loss in 2008/9…that’s just over two billion dollars 

The government on the other hand feels that the woes of the Aviation Sector are largely due to the mindless expansion of the Airlines 

Methinks this could open out some opportunities for Investment in selective Aviation Sector scrips if they continue to dive and are avaliable at throwaway prices…on the assumption that a solution will have to be found to resolve critical issues that are threatening this sector and that this sector will not be allowed to crash land

Keeping an Eye on the Skies to grab opportunities if the Price is right…Spicejet,Jet Airways,Kingfisher Airlines…..   

Nusli Wadia’s Interview in Economic Times Today….Finding it difficult to let Go of the Past !

I have audited a Wadia Group Company and lived the 1980s and 1990s through the bitter rivalry between Nusli Wadia and Dhirubhai Ambani….so it was with some Interest that I read Nusli Wadia’s Article and Interview in today’s edition of the Economic Times…..Brought back some Memories

He has chosen to be interviewed and communicate now after so many years..and amusingly he has done so through the Times group despite being very close to the Express Group

I remember the 1980s when I had joined the prestigious CA Firm,S B Billimoria and Co ( Now part of one of the Big 4, Deloitte Group) to begin my articles….my first audit was BRT ( Bombay Ring Tools),a Wadia Group Company….What I remember was the condescending attitude of their Chief Accountant…he was a very emotional Parsi Gentleman ,who held a strong view that Statutory Auditors were merely like Employees of the Company and should therefore behave as such…they had no right to ask questions and Wadias were even their Boss !….This irked my seniors quite a bit…I was a total newcomer…so I just observed…..My Seniors used to take great pleasure in never missing an opportunity to argue and work up steam with this Accountant…he used to get red in the face and very angry and even complained to our Firm Partner that the Audit team was getting Personal !…while most Lunches during the Audit were at ‘Shere-e-Punjab’,a lane away from Wadia Group’s ‘Neville House’  at Ballard Estate ( near the Docks) in South Mumbai,we were treated to ‘Khyber’ when our Firm Partner too was present.It was my first audit and I learnt that Ethics in Business and Personal Ethics are two separate Issues 

Nusli Wadia’s wife Maureen Wadia (Gladrags fame) also used to get both their sons, Jeh and Ness, when they were kids, to play Badminton at the Willingdon Club…It was always in a Mercedes…..Never played with them,though spotted them very often as my friends and I alternated between Tennis and Badminton depending on court availability.  

Nusli Wadia talks in his Interview of many things…Upholding Value is one of them

  • How he respects those who have grown upholding Values…Tatas,Keshub Mahindra,Deepak Parekh…..how the Political System got ‘taken over’ by the strong nexus with Business….how the Mantra today is to scuttle Other’s Projects,preventing their approvals…fixing them,in simple terms….they never did this in their Generation,says Wadia…all business groups co-existed with each other and were happy to see each other Grow….What has grown since then is this business of ” I will Block you or I will Stop you” !…How Ratan Tata had a tough time breaking the strangleholds of Four or Five in the Tata Group….Nusli Wadia does not mention these men…but by implications they should be Russi Mody of Tata Steel,Darbari Seth and his Son of Tata Chemicals,Ajit Kelkar of Indian Hotels and Sumant Moolgaonkar of Telco…I remember,that Tata group had to prepare a criminal dossier on Ajit Kelkar to force him to resign     

My View of Nusli Wadia’s View on ‘Values’ is a bit mixed….Everybody Values those who upholds Values !But,in my view ,it was this very Monoply and Business Control of the Old Groups that new aggressive Businessmen attempted to break by aggressive means….other less aggressive means were easily thwarted…… Nusli Wadia knows that post Independence,Indian Business grew and was centered around Tatas,Wadias,Birlas and the Mafatlals….It was very difficult to break into the Business of this coterie….These Business groups controlled most Indian Business and thwarted anyone who wished to enter or scale up in their lines…Textiles,Steel,Cotton to name a few…..It is this barrier that newer and more aggressive businessman like Dhirubhai Ambani broke through and scaled up….It was a Catch 22 situation for these newcomers….They had to do what they had to do in order to do what they had to do ! ….So,in this context, to imply that many Newer Big Business has emerged without any Value base is not wholly correct…Old Houses also ‘managed’ the government and it’s bureacrats…but Newer Business ‘managed’ them bigger and therefore better ! read more

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