Export or Perish!....Or Export and Prosper!

It gives me immense pleasure to bring before the readers of this blog, some heartwarming memories of my grandfather, Mr. C. R. Bondre, the pioneer of Indian engineering exports, while he took his first steps on this untrodden path. This account makes me feel proud, not only as his granddaughter, but also as an Indian; and I am sure every Indian would feel equally proud after reading these reminiscences which he himself had penned during his lifetime.

C. R. alias Bapusaheb Bondre

Mr. Bondre was an Intra-prenuer to the core: an employee who worked on this special idea just like an entrepreneur would. As mentioned already in my earlier post, he was considered the right hand and close associate of noted industrialist Mr Shantanurao alias S. L. Kirloskar and worked with him for 27 long years in developing the exports of Kirloskar Oil Engines into 42 countries, at a time when engineering exports from India into the developed world seemed like an impossible dream. But it was the sheer unending hardwork and pioneering efforts of Mr. Bondre, or Bapusaheb as he was known in business and social circles, backed by the unfaltering faith put in him by Mr. S. L. Kirloskar, that he could succeed in achieving the impossible, thereby creating a reputation for Indian made engineering goods abroad. 

"I first met Shantanurao in January 1949 in Pune. There was an advertisement that Kirloskar Oil Engines wanted a Cost Accountant and so I had applied for the post." Bapusaheb came from a simple middle class family in Jalgaon and after having completed his education from the famed Sydenham College in Mumbai and having worked with a few companies before, was in search of a good job. Kirloskar Oil Engines was a new company then, incorporated in 1946 and India was a newly independent country, trying to find its feet economically and industrially amidst several hardships. A few days after the interview, Bapusaheb received a letter saying, "We are glad to inform you that you have been appointed as Secretary at Kirloskar Sons and Company" signed S. L. Kirslokar, Partner. Bapusaheb was baffled to receive this communication, as he had given an interview for the post of 'Cost Accountant' and had received an appointment letter for 'Secretary', that too of a relatively lesser known partnership firm like Kirloskar Sons and Company! 

On receiving the letter, Bapusaheb tried to find out some more information about this unfamiliar company! He learnt that this company was responsible for the Management of Kirloskar Oil Engines, Kirloskar Brothers, Kirsloskar Electricals and Mysore Kirloskar! "During the British rule, many British companies bought tea gardens in India, established jute and cotton mills, as also trading companies, banks and insurance companies by investing their own capital here. In order to manage these businesses, the British companies would appoint an Indian representative or a partnership firm. This was the beginning of the trend of Managing Agencies in India. This trend continued later, even in the post-independence years. However, due to a change in the Company Law in 1957, this trend stopped." Bapusaheb explains in his then celebrated article series, 'Kelyane Hoat Ahe Re!' (Only when we do, we achieve!) in MCCIA's publication, Sampada.

Soon, Bapusaheb realised that Kirloskar Sons seemed like an 'absentee landlord', whose office on paper, was at Kirloskarwadi but the only main business of the company seemed to collect office allowance from every group company under its auspices and take the pre-decided percentage of profit from them at the end of every financial year! If the managing agency itself did not have much work, what work would its Secretary have, was a question which troubled Bapusaheb, a workhorse by nature! He felt that the Secretary was only an appointment to comply with the legal norms.

"I want work!" a perturbed Bapusaheb told Mr S. L. Kirloskar, whose reply to this was as intriguing as this entire anecdote, revealing the mark of a true genius! He calmly replied, "We allocate work only to clerks and workmen. Persons in your position are expected to find work useful for the company to justify their existence." This unusual response bewildered Bapusaheb no end! The onus of justifying his existence and finding meaningful work in the company now being on himself, he regularly started visiting Kirloskar group companies in Kirloskarwadi, Harihar and Bengaluru, studying each company's financial position, production, sales, labour relations; as well as the latest economic developments in the country, their possible impact on the business of these companies, and started preparing and submitting detailed monthly reports to the partners of Kirloskar Sons and Company. This proved to be extremely useful in the wake of new policies and business and economic decisions taken by the Government at that time.

C. R. Bondre as the Chief Guest at an event,
circa 1970

"However, finding meaningful work for myself wasn't that easy and I had to work my way up," he writes. "Around 1950, Harihar's Rajarampant Kirloskar's daughter, Padma was getting married to the then Chief Minister Morarji Desai's son, Kantilal and the whole responsibility of arranging the wedding function somehow landed on the work-less Secretary of the managing agency!" Though not very pleased to do the job of a 'Marriage Manager', it was his inherent nature to leave no stone unturned in putting in his best effort in anything that he did and the wedding took place in a very well-organised manner, in all pomp and glory. That was an era, when Event Managers were unheard of! "After that for some years, I was the chosen one for managing any such event in the Kirloskar family." However, very soon an opportunity presented itself and Bapusaheb got a chance to prove his credentials and efficiency. 

During his efforts to study the new economic policies of the Government, Bapusaheb happened to find a Government publication which read 'Recommendations for Amendments in the Company Law'. It had recommendations like putting an end to the office allowance of managing agents, reduction in the percentage of profit sharing and gradually doing away with the practice of appointing managing agents. "A blueprint of the upcoming First Five Year Plan was also published by the Government around the same time, and I started analysing the possible impact of all these current and future developments on the future of diesel engines. I prepared a note and gave it to Shantanurao. He liked it and asked me to continue this work of analysing any future developments regarding the business of pumps, machine tools, electric motors, etc."

"Around the same time, the Indian Government gave permission to import diesel engines into India and that was the reason why the domestic market for Kirloskar engines went down drastically, the only plausible reason being that people did not have the confidence that Indian made engines could be as good as imported ones! In addition, every monsoon, there used to be a huge drop in the demand for our engines, as these engines were primarily used in agriculture, in pumps used to provide water to the fields. If the inventory of these engines increased during monsoon, it meant locking the company's funds which could lead to financial problems in the future. But the biggest blow was the competition from the 75,000 foreign-made engines imported into the country." 

In such difficult times, a great piece of advice came from Sir Lala Shriram, Chairman of  Kirloskar Oil Engines, who suggested to Mr Kirloskar that the only way to survive in these tough times was to try one's hands at exports. It was at this point, sometime in 1952-53, that Mr. Bondre saw an opportunity to do something meaningful for the company and prove his mettle. He took the initiative immediately. "Can I start working on this idea of starting our exports?", he asked Mr. Kirloskar, who readily gave him the nod; and the rest, as they say, is history!

 C. R. Bondre (left)with Mr. S. L. Kirloskar at an event
circa 1970

In  1956, Kirloskar Oil Engines started its Export Department and Mr. Bondre was appointed as its Chief. From here, his real journey began, one which not only marked the entry of Kirloskar Oil Engines into the foreign market, but also marked the foray of Indian engineering goods abroad. As is well known, that was the era when India was an importer of manufacturing goods, technology and machinery, and an exporter of raw materials, semi-finished and agricultural products. It was indeed a great leap forward, one which if successful, could create history, if not, could spell doom! But as the saying goes, fortune favours the brave. Mr. Kirloskar gave complete freedom to Bapusaheb to develop the department the way he wanted, to plan ambitious policies and to see them through. The faith that Mr. Kirloskar had in the feisty C. R. Bondre has been well-documented in the former's autobiography, Cactus and Roses, as well as the latter's article series in Sampada.

Uptil 1956, while he was still the Secretary of Kirloskar Sons, Mr Bondre had travelled to New Delhi and Indonesia for the industrial exhibitions as Director of the stalls where Kirloskar products were exhibited. Later, he travelled to Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand and Myanmar, trying to study their markets, finding distributors for diesel engines, and toiling hard to get the first orders for Kirloskar engines, and in these early times, was also fairly successful in getting them.

Bapusaheb shares an interesting anecdote of the first engine exported directly to the industrially and economically developed Germany! "Way back in the 1950s, sending engines out of India required permission from the Reserve Bank of India. Rules made during the World War II, were still the same, even as India had attained independence and had embarked upon the path of industrialisation, and the manufacture of diesel engines had already begun in India!", writes Bapusaheb. "That an engine of Indian make was to be exported to the extremely progressive Germany, that too in the industrial area, was something totally unimaginable and astounding for the Officer of the RBI!" 

In June 1952, while Mr. Kirloskar was on tour in Germany, a company in Dusseldorf had accepted to import from India, five engines of five horse power each on a trial basis. Immediately, he sent a telegram asking Mr. Bondre to send five engines for testing. He was himself going to be present there during the testing. "With great difficulty, I obtained permission from the authorities concerned to send engines to Germany and started preparations for sending them by air. Everyone in the company was very much excited and the entire staff, officers, engineers, supervisors and workers worked very hard to see that the Kirloskar engine emerges at par with the German made engine in efficiency and quality during the testing that was to happen at Dusseldorf. We did various tests at all stages and prepared every part with great care, and the engines scored well on each and every parameter. Everyone started feeling that the engines will now prove their efficiency at par with their German counterparts."

Mr. Bondre, however, was still not completely satisfied with the tests. He still had one doubt, and a very valid doubt at that. "We have tested the engines on all parameters, except one", he said to his Technical Advisor, "and that is the test of temperature! We don't know how these engine will fare in freezing temperatures as are common in the West!" It was then that the engines were kept in cold storage for 48 hours at the lowest temperature that the country had recorded till then! "48 hours passed, and the engines were taken out, and with all fingers crossed, they were started and they started with a bang and everyone present clapped with great excitement and contentment!" 

Mr. C. R. Bondre with Mr. S. L. Kirloskar and his wife 

in 1974, as Kirloskar engines were exported to England

Mr. Bondre decided to send the engines to Germany by Air India, as a symbol of national pride! He personally went to Mumbai and met the Officer in Charge at the Cargo Section of Air India. However, on learning of the packing size of the engines, the Officer said it wasn't possible for them to carry it. He also suggested to Mr. Bondre that the engines be dismantled for them to be able to carry them. Mr. Bondre came back disappointed that Indian engines, exported to Germany on their very first trip could not avail themselves of the services of the National Carrier. He then went to the office of the British Overseas Aircraft Corporation (BOAC) and narrated his problem and the officer there smiled, "We can carry an elephant! Just send your engines!" 

"And this is how the symbol of Indian engineering industry, the hallmark of the skill, expertise and hardwork of Indian engineers and workers, and a befitting example of the new creation of Indian business, the Kirloskar engine, took off to its foreign destination!"