Chapter 196: Conspiracy
"Harus, how much money do we have left in our account?"
"The total amount of funds from several banks is about 80 million, but we need to leave enough for two months of operating costs."
Harus, who was in charge of finance, clicked away on his calculator. Two minutes later, he looked up and said, "Sixty million. Any more and Soul Electric's capital chain would be at risk."
Sixty million rupees, this is the profit of Sur Electric for most of the year, and there is no tax to pay.
This is thanks to the "import substitution" policy formulated by Heruru, which encouraged domestic Indian companies to fill the gaps in foreign technology.
Ron's Sur Electric Appliances belongs to the "first-tier" industry designated by the government, and it can enjoy certain preferential treatment in terms of taxes and loans.
Now in New Delhi, the Congress Party is still the dominant party, and this incentive policy is still effective.
"Prepare this money, you will need it soon." Ron instructed him.
"Boss" Harus hesitated to speak.
"Just say what you want to say."
"Are you in any trouble?" he asked cautiously.
"Why do you think so?" Luo Enqi asked.
"Mumbai has been in chaos lately, as you know. The gangs are targeting the rich, extorting and committing all sorts of evil."
"So you're worried that I'm being blackmailed?" Ron laughed.
"The news is reporting that the gangs have become more and more daring recently. I heard that Daoud is behind it."
"Dawood? Isn't he wanted by the Indian government?" Ron had heard Aggie mention him.
"He fled to the north." Harus said mysteriously.
"You mean Baba Sheep?" Ron was a little surprised.
"Yes, the Indian government forced Dubai to hand over his son. He didn't dare stay there any longer, so he had to flee north."
"It seems that Baba Sheep is indeed behind the Mumbai bombings."
"That's what's being said in the news. Anyway, Dawood is feeling emboldened right now. Rumors are circulating that he's seeking revenge against the Bombay government."
"This guy is a lunatic. Why would his men listen to him? Their boss is a traitor."
"Boss, the members of the Daud Gang are all herdsmen. Do you expect herdsmen to be patriotic?" Harus was not surprised at all.
In his eyes, or in the eyes of the vast majority of Hindus, nomads cannot be patriotic.
No matter where they are, herders are first and foremost herders; country and nation are secondary to them.
They attach too much importance to their religious beliefs, which leads to blurring the concepts of country and nation.
Ron didn't know if it was prejudice, but most people around him thought so.
"Don't worry, none of the Mumbai gangs are so blind as to cause trouble for me." Ron waved his hand indifferently.
He had a close relationship with Khad Khan and could speak for Thackeray. Both the black and white factions had to give him some respect.
No matter what, extortion will never be traced back to him. Those gangsters are not fools.
Harus slapped his head, he almost forgot his boss's great reputation in Mumbai.
"Boss, you are a good man, and the gangs won't make things difficult for you."
"Okay, go get Ashish." Ron waved his hand.
After a while, Ashish came into the office happily.
"What do the slum workers say?" Ron asked.
"They couldn't ask for more!" Ashish assured him, patting his chest. "The Sur Electric Factory employee community is something many people wouldn't even dare to dream of."
"That's good. This way we have a better chance of success."
More than 200 acres of land is enough for Ron to build a Sur Electrical Appliance Park.
In addition to factories, office buildings, and R&D centers, this park will also have supporting facilities such as employee dormitories.
Workers can move into the staff dormitory by paying a certain amount of rent every month, and the money is deducted directly from their salary.
Compared to the current wooden houses, brick buildings are of course more attractive.
They no longer have to worry about intermittent water and electricity, nor do they have to worry about the legal slums being suddenly closed down one day.
The only downside is the rent is a bit high, but it's worth it.
People in the slums are so eager to have a permanent residence, a place that feels like home.
For them, living in an apartment building is equivalent to achieving a class transition.
Coming from the bottom to the middle class has been the dream of generations.
“The problem is the illegal slums,” Ashish said, a little distressed. “They don’t want to leave.”
"Even if the slums are legally moved away?" Ron frowned. "Without the workers' consumption, how can they survive?"
"That's better than being homeless. They'll never be sidewalk dwellers again."
"What about the Municipal Commission?" Ron thought of Kellner, the "demolition king."
"They can't demolish a slum with 20,000 or 30,000 people at once. They don't have enough manpower," Ashish reminded gently.
There are too many people. If we act forcefully, demonstrations and protests will be the mildest outcome.
It might cause riots, which neither the municipal committee nor Ron wanted to see.
Well, Ron never thought that one day he would also be troubled by the problems of the slums.
Perhaps he should have driven those people away, but it was difficult to do so because the wasteland did not belong to him and he had no rights.
"This matter can only be resolved by the Mumbai government. Let's plan our internal issues first."
Ron decided to make it one of the conditions for subsequent negotiations. It would be difficult for him to move tens of thousands of people out of the slums on his own.
It would be great if there was a way to have the best of both worlds, as he doesn't want to stand on the opposite side of the slums.
Putting aside this worry, Ron called an official from the Urban Development Bureau.
Such large-scale land transactions are no longer something that the municipal company can decide on its own.
Sure enough, after asking a few questions, Ron's brows frowned even deeper.
The land he wanted was so large that he needed to coordinate with multiple departments including the Municipal Corporation, Urban Development Authority, and Housing and Regional Development Authority.
Who can command so many public departments at once? Only the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
Damn, Ron is almost done with all the bigwigs in Mumbai.
Unfortunately, Chief Minister Sharad Pawar is not in Mumbai at the moment. He has been staying at the minister's residence in New Delhi recently.
Ron also inquired about the transaction price of industrial land in Mumbai. Taking the area near Sur Electric as an example, it was about 400,000 rupees per acre.
This price is only slightly cheaper than when the textile factory was originally purchased, and this was even after the impact of the bombing.
Land in Mumbai is valuable, well, much more valuable than in Uttar Pradesh.
If Ron wanted to acquire the 200 acres of wasteland, he would have to prepare at least 80 million rupees.
Looking at the 60 million in the account, Ron lamented that there would never be enough money.
Of course he could get a loan, but the problem was that he had recently borrowed 30 million from the National Bank.
The money was meant for a cement plant in Uttar Pradesh, and the pretext used was the expansion of Sur Electric.
In other words, if he buys the land, the Sul Electric Appliances cover will no longer be usable.
It's a bit difficult. Maybe he can wait a few more months until Suer Electric has more funds on its books.
But that takes time, and he can't just sit there and wait after buying the land. He also needs another huge sum of money to build it.
If we keep waiting like this, we might not be able to discuss this deal again until two years later.
Who knows if there will be any changes by then. There are more and more active businessmen in India now, and it will be bad if a competitor emerges.
After thinking about it, Ron decided to call Mumbai's mayor, Shawan, to ask.
There are no honest people doing business in India these days, so of course they have to find some crooked ways.
On the phone, Shawan promised him that he would introduce someone who could talk to the Chief Minister of Maharashtra.
It doesn’t matter if you don’t have enough money, just deal with the person holding the seal.
It would be best not to spend a penny. Ron still needs to save some money to develop the Sur Park.
Buying land costs money, and construction also costs money.
Shawan reminded him that if he wanted to achieve his goal, he had better come up with a beautiful and convincing development plan.
Well, the pie needs to be drawn in advance.
Ron plans to talk to Rahul, who he met last time. He is a well-known urban planner in Mumbai and has a certain reputation internationally.
But just as he picked up the phone, Luca came.
"Dude, have you forgotten you have a pharmaceutical business?"
"Of course I haven't forgotten, but didn't you say there were some problems in Brazil that needed to be solved?"
Since Anand and his friends went to Brazil two months ago, they have not yet made any preparations for their next sea voyage.
Luca said his brother has encountered competition in Brazil and is now working to resolve the issue.
Ron had some impression that as early as April at the beginning of the year, Luca mentioned that someone from Brazil went to New Delhi to look for channels for generic drugs.
After more than half a year, the competition between the two sides seems to have reached a fever pitch.
"It's definitely okay with my brother, but we have another business."
"You mean?" Ron seemed to remember something.
"Merck, their laboratory will be put into use soon." Luca reminded him.
"Oh!" Ron suddenly realized, "I almost forgot about that."
"Look, if we don't have the drug business, we still have the drug man business."
In Luca's eyes, there is no difference between the two, both earn US dollars.
The same is true for Ron.
With his current status, he shouldn't look down on this kind of gray business.
But it was dollars, and with the tourism industry in a slump, it was his only way to earn them.
He lacked rupees, and even more so, dollars.
"So they need help lately?" Ron asked.
"At least 100 people."
"So many?" Ron was shocked.
As far as he knows, new clinical drugs in Europe and the United States are usually developed in batches of 20 to 30 people.
"If Merck wants to speed up its progress, it can only rely on people to pile up data. There's a lot of knowledge involved, man."
"100 people," Ron sighed, "Any requirements?"
"This is a Phase I clinical trial, which, as they say, is to assess the drug's safety. Therefore, completely healthy individuals are required. However, considering this is an oncology drug, a dozen or so patients are also required."
The development of new drugs has three experimental cycles in the clinical stage. The first phase requires the least number of people, and most of them are healthy people.
The number of participants in the second phase may reach hundreds. This stage mainly verifies the efficacy, which requires patient participation.
It is not surprising that there are even more people in the third phase, and thousands of people are involved.
According to their agreement with Merck, Phase I and Phase II pay the highest capitation fees, ranging from US$3,000 to US$5,000.
There are too many people in Phase III. After several years of development, the safety of the drug has been greatly improved. At this time, the per capita fee may be only a few hundred dollars.
Merck placed the two most dangerous stages in India, and this is when Ron and others need to play the role of local bosses.
“I will call Anand and we will go to the slums together in the next two days.”
Well, when doing business in India, it's best to throw away your conscience.
(End of this chapter)
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