Looking back at the top 5 posts from the month of June 2020. All these posts were originally published in LinkedIn as part of the daily content I have been posting.
1. L&T’s commitment to Self-Reliant India
L&T affirms its commitment to Self-Reliant Indian Industry
Indian construction giant and conglomerate Larsen & Toubro reaffirmed its commitment to building a strong and feasible “Make In India” ecosystem.
The company aims to drastically reduce its dependency on imported products including those from China. This is done by putting processes and systems in place to develop a large scale, efficient and cost-effective domestic industrial ecosystem over a medium to long term.
The company has also been involved in developing a strong supply chain of local vendor partners in its businesses, nurturing the local manufacturing and construction ecosystem.
A welcome move from one of the big names in our industry, hoping other players will follow suit, making self-reliant India a reality.
2. Reliance becomes Net-Debt free
Reliance Industries Limited becomes Net-Debt free, keeps promise.
Indian conglomerate, Reliance Industries under the leadership of Mr Mukesh Ambani has become net-debt free. The company achieved this feat by raising over 1.68 lakh crore rupees in just 58 days.
The company usually follows a high debt, high cash strategy. Leading to a debt of over 1.61 lakh crore rupees as of FY20.
They raised the cash in way of 11 deals for 24.7% of the Jio Platforms and a rights issue for Reliance.
The plan to go debt free was first announced during the company’s 42nd AGM in August 2019. Having set March 2021 as its target, they achieved this status a full 9 months in advance.
On back of the powerful sentiments from investment firms, the stock has also doubled from 52 week lows. Making it the first Indian company to have a Market Capitalization of $150 Billion, which it achieved on 22nd June.
The company also plans to list Jio and Reliance Retail within 5 years.
3. Atmanirbhar Bharaat
Atmanirbhar Bharat, but how?
The recent news of Delhi-Merut RRTS Tunnel Project where a Chinese firm has become L1 over an Indian firm has received a lot of attention in wake of the current tensions between the two countries.
The difference between the L1(Chinese) and L2(Indian) bidders is just 44 crores or less than 4%. And yet the contract might go to the lowest bidder, because of our love for the “lowest bidder”
A workable solution on how this can be tackled can be found in Kerala, in its nearly 100-year-old cooperative company that an IIT Professor has called as a mini-Kerala version of L&T: ULCCS.
Because of its status as a cooperative entitles it to various benefits from the government.
1️⃣ If the bid price of ULCCS is higher than a private contractor’s but the difference is within 10%, the project can be awarded to the cooperative.
2️⃣ Exempt from depositing earnest money or a performance guarantee
3️⃣ Award projects up to a certain amount directly to it without calling for a tender
Given the renewed interest in self-dependence, it is prime time that such steps (especially 1) that favour and makes Indian companies more competitive over others are taken.
4. 5 C’s of Wisdom
5 C’s of Wisdom
Collection: Everything you experience forms a collection of data, the books you read, movies you watch, conversations you have, everything. This is raw Data.
Categorize: Data in itself may appear meaningless, so you categorize based on its type and your experiences you’ve had with them. This is Information.
Criss-Crossing: Once you’ve categorized the information, you see patterns emerging, intertwining and relationships between them. This is Knowledge.
Couple: Somewhere you find that there is a link between 2 data sets, but you don’t know how they are connected, yet. This is Insight.
Connect: Then you develop an ability to connect 2 seemingly random dots to an untrained eye with logic, reasoning and meaningfully. This is true Wisdom.
Further Reading: DIKW Pyramid
5. Leveraging LinkedIn
The 90-9-1-0.1 Rule
Once you’ve set up your profile and is optimized, the next thing to do is to start posting content on the platform and I’ll tell you why it’s important.
The 90-9-1 Rule applies to online communities, with the numbers showing the percentage of its users falling into 3 broad categories
90% 👉🏻 Lurkers: Users that just scroll through content without engaging with them.
9% 👉🏻 Contributors: Users that engage with content in some form, through comments or re-shares often by adding their own thoughts.
1% 👉🏻 Creators: These are the group of people that actively create content on the platform.
The easiest thing to do to set oneself apart from others is to “CREATE”. With the participation inequality so stark, creating has become quite rewarding.
So which category do you fall into and which category do you want to be in?
Still wondering who the 0.1% users are?
They are people who create content daily!!!
Honorable Mention: Networking lesson from Mr. Dhirubhai Ambani
Perspective Matters: A Lesson on Networking from Dhirubhai Ambani
Came across this crazy story of why Dhirubhai Ambani, in his earlier days used to go to Taj for a coffee, a very expensive place even at the time. A coffee at Taj would cost 50 odd rupees whereas coffee at a roadside shop would have only cost a couple of rupees.
A friend who noticed this asked, why so? He replied:
“I am paying 5 bucks for the coffee and another 45 bucks because the Taj gives me an opportunity to connect with the city’s most influential people! It’s not about the coffee; it’s about acquainting myself and developing relationships with the people who really count”
Not sure if he ordered coffee or tea, but that mindset sure is a lesson in networking and why having a unique perspective on life is such a superpower.
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