While Karunakaran as union industry minister in the Narasimha Rao government had taken a tough stand on the issues of modernisation and equity stake, his successor is determined to keep the heat on Suzuki on the choice of MUL's next managing director.

Whether or not this is to signal to the Congress that there is no deviation from Karunakaran's line, Kesri surely would have no complaints on this score particularly with Murasoli Maran adopting a strong posture towards the Suzuki. With the Janata Dal splitting, it is no doubt tactical on the UF government's part not to rub Congress the wrong way.

Yet, given the 50:50 equity participation by the government and Suzuki in Maruti, a consensus would make better corporate sense than confrontation. The government cannot legitimately demand that the managing director of Maruti should take orders from it, although it would be quite justified in objecting to this functionary being dictated to by the Japanese collaborator. The company is up against several competitors with a strong global presence and several new cars are already on Indian roads.

This is hardly the time when Maruti would want to be uncertain of its future. The company chief should have a free hand in coping with the emerging challenges and should not be all the time worried about the confrontation between the Industry Ministry and the Japanese partner.

In this context, the wiser course for the two partners would be to settle their differences and proceed on mutual trust. If indeed the Industry Ministry is prepared to replace Suzuki, it must say so in order that the decks are cleared for the induction of another transnational automobile company. In any case, the issue of the next managing director should not be blown up to a point where nothing else matters. This is bad management. The real problem in respect of MUL is how it would cope with growing competition from other car manufacturers. On this aspect, if the government is really convinced that Suzuki is not introducing state-of-art-technology, it should not waste any time and start looking for a replacement. But, unfortunately, it does not look as if Udyog Bhawan is only concerned about the future of Maruti. For, if it were really so it would not have let the successor to the outgoing managing director become a major area of dispute with Suzuki.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.