The Creation and Destruction of Wealth

Tata Steel has signed agreements to buy Millennium Steel of Thailand. The creation of the multinational continues. TISCO was founded in 1907. Its Jamshedpur plant reached a 1 MT capacity in 1960, 2 MT in 1993, 3 MT in 1999, 4 MT in 2003 and will reach 5 MT in 2006 and 10 MT by 2011. With the acquisition of Natsteel and MS, Tata Steel has a foothold in Southeast Asia. Plans are afoot to erect furnaces in other states of India, and Iran and Bangladesh. After a capacity rise from 2 MT to 4 MT in the decade from 1993 to 2003, Tata Steel's capacity will cross 20 MT before 2015 (To place the number in context, Mittal Steel, the world's largest steel firm, has a capacity of about 45 MT) . The numbers are probably boring, but the transformation of this company during the nineties is quite amazing. Halving a workforce of 80,000 without laying off anyone - the VRSed employees were assured of the receiving their last monthly wage every month till they reached retirement age (as best as I know) - showcases TISCO's determination to become lean without being mean! It is now the lowest cost steel producer in the world. And it has won IT Management awards against the best firms in Asia (including IT firms) for two years running! I wonder how many Indian firms will be in the global top 100 in 2015 and 2025. Atleast a dozen in 2015 and a score in 2025, I think.

From the global to the local. The weekend's here again. And my spending continues spiralling out of control. We are currently studying and criticising India's continuing fiscal profilgacy in the economics class. Perhaps I should look at myself first. Went to Mocha and US Pizza today, with different friends. Also almost succumbed to the thought of buying a T-Shirt from Westside, despite having a glut of them already. Tomorrow I'm off to another dinnner at Curries (probably), with yet another set of friends. Spending money seems way too easy when Dad simply approves my blanket request for funds everytime I go home and ask. Life was better when I'd a much lower monthly pocket-money and had to live within my means. Consumerism has to be combated...but who doesn't enjoy an evening out with friends :)

References : The title is adapted from RM Lala's book on the Tatas - "The Creation of Wealth." Some of the production data is from the Tata Steel website.