Gonga hapa chini kwa habari zaidiBy Steve Schifferes
Economics reporter, BBC News, Bangalore
AZIM PREMJI
Born: 24 July 1945
Job: Wipro boss since 1968
Net worth: $11bn
Education: BA, electrical engineering, Stanford
Family: wife (Yasmeen), two sons (Rishad and Tariq)
Wipro chairman Azim Premji wears his crown as India's richest man lightly.
He still drives a Toyota Corolla, flies economy class, and lives on campus at Wipro's headquarters in Bangalore.
But Mr Premji is one of India's most important hi-tech entrepreneurs.
He built his father's vegetable oil company into a $25bn global outsourcing giant which is challenging the likes of IBM and Accenture, and transforming the way many multinationals do business.
In an exclusive interview, Mr Premji said that with wealth came responsibilities - to his employees, to his clients, and above all to society.
With the attention I got on my wealth, I thought I would have become a source of resentment, but it is just the other way around - it just generates that much more ambition in many people
Azim Premji
"At the end of the day there is only x-amount you can consume, frankly, so that itself becomes a limitation," he told the BBC.
"I think that any wealth creates a sense of trusteeship ... it is characteristic of the new generation which has created wealth to have some amount of responsibility for it."
Admired, not envied
Mr Premji believes that his success in business, rather than causing envy, has inspired a new generation in India to become more entrepreneurial.
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"With the attention I got on my wealth, I thought I would have become a source of resentment, but it is just the other way around - it just generates that much more ambition in many people," he says.
Many admire men like Mr Premji, or Nandan Nilekani, the boss of Infosys, who has become a millionaire from his share options.
Indians are proud that they are at last joining the ranks of the world's billionaires, with the number of Indians on the Forbes Rich List doubling from 13 to 27 last year.
Many of the new billionaires are also self-made men, like the head of Jet Airways, Naresh Goyal.
Many of India's biggest companies are still family firms, such as Wipro, Tata and Reliance.
And some, like steel magnate Lakshmi Mittal, have become global players and no longer live in India (Mr Premji is the richest Indian businessman who lives in India; Mr Mittal, who doesn't, is wealthier).
Building India's IT industry
Mr Premji played a key role in building up one of India's most successful industries.
India is the most important global location for outsourcing of business services, and Bangalore is the heart of the IT industry.
Mr Premji believes India had two advantages in IT outsourcing: a skilled workforce that was literate in maths; and widespread literacy in English, the global business language.
WIPRO
HQ: Bangalore
Employees: 61,000
Employees abroad: 11,000
Revenues: $2.2bn
Market value: $25bn
Source: Company
employees as of 31.12.06; revenues as of 31.3.06
market value as of 22.1.07
But the industry was only able to develop in the late 1990s when the government liberalised the telecoms sector and the cost of bandwidth dropped dramatically.
"I was basically trying to have a vision. One saw what was happening in manufacturing 25 years ago in terms of globalisation of manufacturing.
"The biggest bet the industry made is that, if can happen to manufacturing, it can happen to services - at least, the type of services that can be remotely delivered," he says.
But for the Indian IT industry to realise its potential, it needed to invest in people.
"I think the most important reason for our success is that very early in our quest into globalisation, we invested in people - and we have done that consistently and particularly in the service business.
"People are the key to success or extraordinary success."
Wipro's values included a refusal to pay bribes, which cost the firm work in the early days.
Western competition
Managing Wipro's explosive growth has been difficult.
For them, India is a back room - for us, India is the front room
Azim Premji
The company now hires 20,000 graduates each year, and faces competition from foreign multinationals also flooding into Bangalore.
As the demand for IT professionals has risen, Wipro has been forced to raise salaries twice in 2006.
However, Mr Premji believes that India is fully capable of increasing its output of college-educated engineers - already the largest in the world, with 400,000 graduates a year - to meet the growing demand.
PREMJI FOUNDATION
Spending: $4m a year
Schools helped: 18,000
Multimedia DVDs: 464 educational games in 18 languages
He says the industry is also training liberal arts college graduates to do the same work.
And he claims that Indian IT professionals prefer to work for Indian companies rather than foreign multinationals, because their career prospects are better.
"Today we hire more people from IBM and Accenture in India than we lose to them - because they've also realised that they are in India for a certain price advantage and they cannot afford to pay silly salaries because they dilute their price advantage.
"For them, India is a back room - for us, India is the front room," he says.
Reverse outsourcing
But Mr Premji believes that in the long run, the answer to the skills squeeze in India is for Wipro to do more work abroad.
Wipro already employs 11,000 professionals overseas and expects 20% of its business to be offshored from India in the medium term.
INDIA'S TOP BILLIONAIRES
Lakshmi Mittal (steel)*
Azim Premji (IT software)
Ambani brothers (oil, telecoms)
Kushal Pal Singh (construction)
Sunil Mittal (telecoms)
Source: Forbes
*not resident in India
He is planning further expansion in Europe, Japan and the Middle East.
"Indian service companies typically in software services will lead to globalise more - they'll need to localise more," he told the BBC.
"They'll need to localise more because of community reasons - community pressures will build up, visa pressures will build up and in a way, understandably so."
Mr Premji is well aware that in many Western countries, there is a growing backlash against the outsourcing industry, as many skilled professionals fear they will lose their jobs.
I would take China as serious competition for anything in the world
Azim Premji
But he says that globalisation has to be a two-way street.
"If you want emerging countries such as India - which is going to be one of your major markets - to open its borders to global competition and global access for products and services, the quid pro quo is that you have to play fair as a developed nation.
"The Western world loves liberalisation, provided it doesn't affect them. But that's the case with all countries all over the world - liberalisation is a great word if it doesn't affect you."
Many UK companies, however, complain that the UK is far more open to inward investment than India, which is still in the process of relaxing its tough controls on foreign ownership.
The China factor
Like businessmen all over the world, Mr Premji fears one country above all others - China.
Wipro already has set up operations in China, which has one of the world's largest software industries.
At the moment, most of that IT effort goes into manufacturing design, not outsourcing.
But Mr Premji believes that once China has trained enough people to speak English, it will be a real competitive threat to his business.
"I would take China as serious competition for anything in the world. I think Western nations are realising that too late," he said.
Mr Premji believes that the most important thing India can do to maintain its global competitiveness is to improve its education system, which he says is failing women.
He has set up the Premji Foundation to fund projects in 18,000 schools across India, which aim to encourage students to develop computer skills.
And his hope is that, as more girls stay on and finish school, the birth rate will drop to the same level as China.
Improved education and a lower birth rate, he argues, would give India a chance to find enough jobs for the tens of millions of young people coming to the labour market each year.
By Andrew Walker
Economics correspondent, BBC News
If we needed a reminder of India's growing global economic presence, we had it last week in the steel industry when India's Tata won a stock market auction for the European company Corus.
The result of putting the two together will be the fifth-biggest steel producer in the world.
And it is an Indian-born entrepreneur, Lakshmi Mittal, who is the driving force behind the biggest of all in the industry, Arcelor Mittal.
That story is merely a recent news event that highlights India's rise. It is a much wider phenomenon.
Gerard Walsh, Regional Director for Asia at the Economist Intelligence Unit in London, says India is already close to being a $1 trillion economy.
And if you measure it using purchasing-power parities - an alternative to exchange rates which accounts for different price levels between countries - India is already the third-largest economy in the world, behind only the US and China.
Growing impact
Most economists expect India's recent relatively rapid growth - an annual average of about 7% over the last four years - to continue.
That alone would ensure the country would make a growing mark. But it has been a relatively closed economy, with barriers to foreign trade and investment.
Those barriers have been eased, but many remain. The government appears inclined to continue the liberalisation process - and that would make India's international integration proceed even more quickly.
The World Bank has done a recent study, called Dancing with Giants, looking at the implications of the rise of India and China.
Alan Winters, one of the authors, says that for the most part, India's rise is good news for the rest of us.
India's economic growth generates more of the goods it produces and others buy - and that will tend to push prices down.
Competition
But there may be some adverse consequences. Demand for raw materials from growing Indian industry will create upward pressure on those prices.
That's also true for oil, although Mr Winters emphasises that India is a small part of what will determine the global energy prices.
In addition, the increased competition as India produces more goods and services might hurt other countries in South Asia, especially in the textiles and clothing business.
That is an industry where low costs are one of the keys to success.
The same is true of another sector where India is already a big presence on the world stage - medicines.
India's biggest is Ranbaxy, a name we will probably hear more of in the future.
The company's chief executive, Malvinder Mohan Singh, says that 80% of revenue comes from international markets and just 20% from India.
It divides half and half between developed- and developing-country markets.
More sophisticated
Ranbaxy is a company that makes so-called generic medicines, cheap copies of drugs developed by others. But Mr Singh says they have ambitions to develop their own patented therapies.
It would be a move into an area that requires more high-level expertise, and that is a characteristic of other areas of India business life - notably computer software.
The low-cost, high-volume manufacturing will continue - at Ranbaxy and in other Indian industries - but a more sophisticated side is emerging.
Nonetheless, there is much in India that remains pretty basic. Poverty is deep and widespread. It is a matter of controversy whether India's economic growth has helped or not.
Some, including Indu Prakash Singh of Actionaid in Delhi, say the rich and middle classes have benefited, but the poor have not.
He says there have been many cases of poor people being displaced from urban areas in the name of development to areas where they have no housing and no livelihood.
The World Bank's Mr Winters agrees that the wealthy and middle-class clearly have gained.
But he also says the data suggests that the distribution of income hasn't changed much, so the poor are benefiting from India's economic growth. He says there is no reason why they should not continue to do so.
Mzee Mwanakijiji said:Kama kweli Rais Kikwete hana ubia, na kama kweli CCM ni chama kinachojali wananchi basi aamue viongozi wote waliohusika katika suala zima la rada wakiwemo Rais Mwinyi, Rais Mkapa, Mwanasheria Mkuu Chenge na wenzao wote wahojiwe (akiwemo yeye mwenyewe) na chombo huru ambacho kitatafuta ukweli na kuhakikisha kuwa kama kuna watu walionufaika isivyo halali na ununuzi wa rada hii wanarudisha mafao hayo, na pale ambapo sheria za makosa ya jinai zimevunjwa basi watu hao wanafikishwa kunakostahili. Kama Rais Kikwete ataendelea kutaka Rais Mkapa asihojiwe basi tunamuomba atuambie majina ya wale wote ambao yeye hataki wahojiwe ili tujue ya kuwa "kaka mkubwa" kasema fulani asihojiwe ili tusijisumbue kuhoji. Kwa vile Rais wa Jamhuri ya Muungano ameamua kumlinda Bw. Mkapa, basi aamue kuwalinda wale wote waliohusika na ununuzi ili tusiumize vichwa vyetu. Vinginevyo, Rais Kikwete aharakishe kuunda tume huru (isiyo na wabunge) ya kuchunguza suala hili.
Mzee MKKJ Hongera na nakubaliana nawe . wacha tuone sasa baada ya wito wako watasemaje .
MAWAZIRI wawili akiwemo wa TAMISEMI wamelalamikiwa na wabunge kwa kukalia kwa muda mrefu tuhuma za rushwa walizopelekewa. Mbali ya madai hayo, wabunge wametishia kuanza kulipua 'mabomu' kutokana na kutokupata majibu ya taarifa walizoziwasilisha kwa mawaziri hao.
Wabunge walitoa madai hayo jana wakati wakichangia mjadala wa muswada wa vita dhidi ya rushwa uliowasilishwa na Waziri wa Nchi Ofisi ya Rais (Utawala Bora) Philip Marmo. Akichangia mjadala huo, Dk. Zainab Gama (Kibaha Mjini-CCM) alisema halmashauri ya Kibaha ilipatiwa sh. milioni 300 ambazo baadaye zilipelekwa katika benki ya CRDB ambayo haiko Kibaha.
Alisema kwamba alipojaribu kuhoji katika baraza la madiwani na kwa mkurugenzi mtendaji wa wilaya hakupata majibu, hivyo aliamua kumuuliza waziri wa TAMISEMI.
"Nilipoona huko sipati jibu la kuridhisha niliamua kumuuliza waziri wa TAMISEMI ambaye aliahidi kufuatilia, lakini hadi sasa muda mrefu umepita hakuna jibu lolote," alisema Dk. Zainab. Alisema suala la rushwa lisifanyiwe mzaha na kuwa wahusika wafungwe jela kwa kuwa hatua hiyo itawadhalilisha.
Mbunge huyo pia alipendekeza mikataba mikubwa iwasilishwe bungeni na kuchunguzwa na kuondokana na tabia ya sasa ya kuifanya siri. Dk. Zainab alisema pia Mkurugenzi wa Mashitaka (DPP) asipewe mamlaka ya mwisho ya kuamua kuhusu kesi zinazohusisha masuala ya rushwa. Alipendekeza kuwepo na kipengele cha sheria kinachotoa nafasi kwa maofisa wa Taasisi ya Kuzuia Rushwa (PCB) kuendelea na mashitaka iwapo DPP atashindwa kutoa uamuzi wa kusikilizwa au kutosikilizwa kwa kesi za watuhumiwa wa rushwa ili waendelee na kesi.
Mbunge huyo alimpongeza Rais Jakaya Kikwete kwa kutojihusisha na vitendo vya rushwa jambo lililofanya baadhi ya maofisa kumshangaa walipomkuta akiwa waziri wa mambo ya nje, nyumbani kwake akitumia mkaa kupikia. Kwa upande wake, Dk. Chrisant Mzindakaya (Kwera-CCM) alisema anasikitishwa na baadhi ya watendaji wa serikali wakiwemo mawaziri kukalia taarifa za rushwa bila kuzifanyia kazi.
Dk. Mzindakaya alisema kutokana na tabia hiyo, wabunge hawatasita kuanza kulipua 'mabomu' kutokana na tabia yao hiyo. Alisema alitoa taarifa ya vitendo vya rushwa kwa waziri mmoja (hakumtaja jina) kuhusiana na vitendo vya rushwa, lakini waziri huyo amekalia taarifa hiyo kwa zaidi ya miezi minne sasa bila kuchukua hatua.
"Haya mambo tuwe nayo makini. Niliwahi kumpa waziri taarifa kuhusu rushwa, lakini hakunijibu lolote na hata kunishukuru kwa kumpa taarifa, hajafanya hivyo...sasa ni miezi minne imepita. Sisi wengine ni watundu tunapata taarifa, tukianza kurusha makombora mawaziri msitulaumu," alisema Dk. Mzindakaya.
Mbunge huyo alisema baadhi ya wabunge wanashindwa kukemea vitendo vya rushwa kutokana na kuwa na matarajio ya kuteuliwa kuwa mawaziri. "Kuna mambo mengi yanatendeka, lakini hatuwezi kuyasema humu," alisema.
Alipendekeza mawaziri wasitokane na wabunge kwa kuwa hali hiyo inawafanya kuoneana aibu na kutoa mfano wa waziri mmoja kumlalamikia mbunge kuwa anamsakama kutokana na kuhoji mambo mbalimbali.
Mzindakaya pia aliponda utaratibu wa kuwakamata wahusika wa rushwa ndogo kama za sh. 10,000 hadi sh. 30,000 na kuwa rushwa ipo kwenye mikataba ambayo wanatakiwa kuanza kupambana nayo.
Kwa upande wake, Dk. Harrison Mwakyembe alieleza kushangazwa na serikali kushindwa kutoa taarifa kwa wabunge na badala yake kuzitoa kwenye vyombo vya habari hasa magazeti na kuhoji hali hiyo ni kwa faida ya nani.
Alisema hali hiyo inashangaza kwa kuwa kamati za bunge mara nyingi zimekuwa zikiomba taarifa mbalimbali za serikali lakini inakuwa vigumu kuzipata huku taarifa hizo zikipenyezwa kwenye vyombo vya habari.
Dk. Mwakyembe alisema mbali na hilo, inashangaza kuona mikataba mikubwa ya nchi haipelekwi bunge kujadiliwa na kuwa wabunge wanaonekana hawana nguvu. "Hii ni nchi yetu wote, lazima tuseme kama mambo hayaendi sawa," alisema Dk. Mwakyembe na kuwa suala la rushwa liangaliwe kwa dhati kwa kuwa ni vita ngumu.
Aggrey Mwanri (Siha-CCM) alipendekeza wala rushwa wanapobainika wafilisiwe na aliapa kuwa ndani ya CCM kiongozi atakayebainika kujihusisha na rushwa jina lake halitapitishwa kwenye kuwania nafasi za uongozi.
Mwanri alisema bila kupambana kwa dhati na vitendo vya rushwa katika siasa inaweza kutokea bungeni wakaingia watu ambao hawakustahili na wale wanaofaa wakaachwa nje. "Suala la mapambano ya rushwa lipo ndani ya ilani ya CCM," alisisitiza Mwanri.