Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Saturday, Mar 22, 2003
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Saturday, Mar 22, 2003 |
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Corporate
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Trends Variety - Sports Ranbaxy top brass in S Africa to cheer `men in blue' P.T. Jyothi Datta
NEW DELHI, March 21 FAR from the stress and tension that daily business brings, the top brass of pharma major Ranbaxy Laboratories Ltd will be seen in South Africa this Sunday. No points for guessing why - they will be cheering the Indian cricket team at the World Cup final. The CEO and MD, Mr D.S. Brar, the Research and Development President, Dr Rashmi Barbhaiya, and the Regional Director (India), Mr Sanjiv Kaul, will be among a host of corporate cricket enthusiasts waving the Indian flag. While it is not rare for the usual suspects like liquor baron Dr Vijay Mallya to be part of the Indian corporate cheerleaders' bandwagon, this time around, everyone who's someone is descending on South Africa to rally behind Saurav's eleven. Britannia's Managing Director and CEO, Mr Sunil K. Alagh, has also been spotted. Ranbaxy officials told Business Line that the company's top brass was not mixing business with cricket, despite the company having a presence in South Africa and neighbouring countries. Meanwhile, apart from officials of companies sponsoring the World Cup, many corporates are sending employees or `performing dealers' to watch the finals `as a perk', according to a source who wouldn't mention names. According to corporate circles, it is not new for business to take a backseat when cricket is on (the World Cup schedule has been kind to cricket lovers in the country, with the final falling on a Sunday). A media management company official recounted the tale of the head of a liquor multinational who was away in South Africa to watch the Indo-Pakistan match, scheduled on the day after the Budget was tabled in Parliament by the Finance Minister, Mr Jaswant Singh. Oblivious to whether import tariffs on liquor were being brought down or not, the official remained out of bounds to friends in the media who desperately needed some sound-bytes on what he thought of the Budget and its impact on the liquor industry. All that mattered to Indian nationals, corporates and otherwise, on that day was that India beat Pakistan. Sunday will be no less important.
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