India on the brink of a crisis: Lord Swraj Paul

London, Nov 21 (PTI) Admitting that his 1.5 billion pound Caparo group has grown rapidly because of the big market in India, leading Non Resident Indian industrialist Lord Swraj Paul says India is on the brink of a crisis and it will suffer even more.

Lord Paul, who has emerged as the richest Britisher of
Asian origin in a list prepared by Eastern Eye newspaper this
year with a wealth of 1.5 billion pounds, told The Guardian:
"In the last two years, we have acquired 22 companies, and we
have built 32 plants in India since 1994.

"Undoubtedly, India is providing us a big market, which
is part of the reason why we have grown so rapidly," he said.

Lord Paul, British Ambassador for Overseas Business,
said, "Britain is in a better position than most countries to
deal with the economic turmoil because of Prime Minister
Gordon Brown's rescue measures.

"I said it two years ago, and I say it again now --
Gordon Brown is the best man to get us through this. He is not
only trying to find solutions to the British problem, he is
forming a model for other countries to follow."

As for the rest of the world, Lord Paul felt they would
do well to look at Britain. India, which has been a big source
of revenue for Caparo in the last decade or so, is on the
"brink of its own crisis", he said, contrary to some
economists who think India's strong domestic economy will save
it from the worst effects.

"I think India will suffer even more -- it has been
quite late to realise that there could be a problem here. It
has not moved quickly enough," he added.

His (Lord Paul's) experience with recessions has led him
to believe the key to survival is to make difficult decisions
every day. "Like making someone redundant -- even the thought
that you have to do it is sick, but you have to look at the
health of the company as a whole, don't you," he asked.

Lord Paul referred to some of the investment Caparo has
made in ideas. The firm runs the Caparo Innovation Centre with
the University of Wolverhampton, where Paul is chancellor, and
the company recently developed the Caparo T1 concept car,
bringing in designers from the McLaren formula one team.

The car subsequently broke TV car show Top Gear's lap
record by a huge margin.

"Investing in high technology is important, and that's
what a lot of Asian businesspeople have been doing," he said.
As a result, Asians are on the rise, and well placed to
survive the financial crisis.

His logic is that most Indian businesses are family-run,
and it's necessary to work long hours to get through a
difficult period. This is easier to do in a family
environment because of the advantage of having someone to work
on the business at any given time.

"Nowadays, Indians are becoming more mature in the
commercial sector; venture capital, real estate, these are all
new areas for us, but we are maturing quickly," he said. "But
apart from all that, there is no substitute for hard work.
Very, very hard work."

Not only hard work, he also attributed his success to
luck. "At the end of the day, you can't explain success. You
can be hardworking, you can be brilliant, but you need luck.
And I have been very, very lucky in my life." PTI