Chapter 401 Market
"You've become more capable now!"
"Ron Baba, that was just a tiny attempt."
"Why, you still want to play big?"
"It's hard to find older ones, and even fewer are willing to appear on camera."
"Get out!" Ron kicked him angrily.
Anand smiled and did not hide. He waited until his toes landed on his legs, then he grinned and cooperated with the performance.
"Let me ask you first, have you ever done anything to hurt others?" Ron's expression turned serious.
"Ron Baba, you understand me. I've never hurt anyone on purpose. I've always wanted to be a good person."
"That Happy Beans Film Company"
"That's the New Federation's business. I just help them introduce business and take a commission."
"real?"
"Well, I occasionally participate in castings, but I definitely don't force anyone to do anything bad. On the contrary, those ladies are very grateful to me!"
"Um?"
"Ron Baba, they're actually quite pitiful. Most of them are rural girls from underdeveloped areas who can't find work and have to do this kind of business. But Indian men have bad tempers and will beat them, especially after drinking. Sometimes they don't even get paid, and work for nothing.
To shoot a movie in Happy Beans, they can earn at least tens of thousands of rupees, enough for them to save for many years. No, they can't actually save money, because Mumbai is a den of money, even drinking water costs a few rupees.
After filming a movie, they received several years' worth of hard-earned money in one lump sum. Some girls bought train tickets the next day and returned to their hometowns. They had saved enough for dowries and could return home to have a grand wedding.
Ron listened in silence. The bottom line of this country often breaks your imagination again and again.
"Did anyone buy those CDs? Where did they go?" he asked.
"The number of people buying it is incredible. You know, Ron Baba, sometimes a CD will sell a million copies in Bombay in a week after it comes out."
"so much?"
"It's hotter than Bollywood. If a hotel doesn't have new products, it will be despised by guests."
"So they were all sold to the hotel?"
"No, that's only part of it. Individuals buy the most, especially white-collar workers in offices. Don't be fooled by their well-dressed appearance; they actually engage in many shady activities behind the scenes. And then there are video parlors. I dare say they are the greatest invention of New India!"
"Is this thing hot right now?"
"Ron Baba, you can't stay in Malabar Hill forever. Video parlors are now the most profitable business on the street. A few discs playing non-stop will bring in a steady stream of ticket revenue. Mumbai has a huge population of over 16 million, so there's no shortage of business."
Opening a video parlor doesn't require a huge investment; a few VCDs and a TV are all you need. However, you need a wide selection of discs: Bollywood, Hollywood, European, and even Happy Beans.
Once you have these, all you have to do is wait for the customers to come.
The amazing thing is that no matter how remote your video hall is, there will always be people who find it. They spread the word by word of mouth, yet they always keep a low profile.
So although the storefront looks deserted, there is often a large room full of people inside.
Rich people buy VCDs and DVDs to watch at home, while poor people can just pay a few rupees for a ticket and have a great afternoon.
Happy Beans Studio has only been established for a few months, but its development momentum is stronger than many Bollywood companies.
The demand is so great that even the most poorly made and low-quality CDs can sell by the millions.
Anand made a fortune just from the commission.
"Are Johnny and his men in charge of the film studio now?"
"Yes, Ron Baba. I just helped them choose the cast and gave them some advice on the plot. I definitely didn't embarrass you!"
"You can also create plots?" Ron was very curious.
"I've had a lot of experience... well, I've heard a lot of stories. For example, the TV repairman, the plumber, the old man who was the doorman, the high school student with poor grades..."
"Stop, stop, stop, what's all this nonsense?" Ron interrupted him in disgust.
"In short, there are many stories that take place in this city, and they are very exciting. Some of them will leave you speechless. This kind of movie is very simple to shoot. It doesn't require location shooting or acting skills. You just need to play yourself."
"Be careful of the Shiv Sena causing trouble for you," Ron warned him.
"That's the New Federation's business, and it can't be stopped, Ron Baba."
"What?"
"Happy Beans Media is not the only studio working on this kind of film. The entire Mumbai mafia is in turmoil. They are seeing it."
Anand has the clearest perception in this regard. Unknown CDs, also locally produced, have begun to appear in those small video halls.
This business is so profitable, far beyond anyone's imagination.
As long as the batch is large enough, the cost of pressing a CD is less than 5 rupees.
If you sell it on the street, it will be sold out at 20 rupees. There is a complete shortage of supply.
It is more popular than movies because you can watch it over and over again whenever you want.
It is also cheaper than videotapes that cost hundreds of rupees, let alone restricted movie copies that cost up to 500 rupees.
Johnny and his team were selling this stuff very well back then, so there's no reason why cheaper CDs wouldn't be popular.
The best part is that the New Federation has now transformed itself into a production company, with all upstream and downstream profits in their hands.
There are so many gangs in Mumbai that there are no secrets as far as gray business is concerned.
So they followed suit and started setting up film studios.
They even publicized it openly, as if they had been cleared of all charges overnight.
I don’t know how many girls who dream of becoming stars will be harmed by this trend.
But this is Mumbai, and countless dirty things happen every day. The whole country is a hotbed of crime.
"The video hall can't only show these restricted movies, right? And what about those street restaurants? What do they show?"
"Of course it's a pirated CD." Anand shook his head.
"Is it also a new federation?"
"Some of them are street vendors, the most enthusiastic of whom are Ron Baba. You know, if you just buy a burner, you can produce pirated CDs in an endless stream.
The blank CDs from the University of the Sun Yat-sen are very cheap, only one or two rupees each, and they are shipped here in whole boatloads.
The vendors can earn at least 5-6 rupees by burning a Bollywood movie. This is much more profitable than selling paan, very profitable!
With a profit of three or four rupees and no worries about selling, capable small businessmen would have made a fortune long ago.
No one cares about copyright issues, and India's brutal business environment will tear apart any attempts at standardization.
Red-light districts, gangs, small businessmen, video halls, street shops, customers... these factors are closely linked to each other and have given rise to a booming VCD market.
Sur Electric was the beneficiary, and Ron did not interfere with the actions of the new federation.
He just warned Anand not to get into trouble.
The Shiv Sena, the police, the Bollywood film companies, who knows when they will raise their sticks against this business.
Ron doesn't need to participate in the piracy market, he just needs to wait and see.
Of course, it’s okay to occasionally introduce them to the CD pressing factory of the University of Tokyo or Japanese burners.
The rest will be left to the market. Judging from the VCD sales in the past few months, the era of universal entertainment has become an inevitable trend.
This year, Sur Electric will also launch small items such as speakers, microphones, and cameras.
The sales volume is average, but I haven’t lost money either, so I can just consider it as a chance to gain development experience.
Combining all these products, Sur Electric now has a net profit of about 9.5 billion rupees per month.
With the cement plant and other businesses, Ron has a cash flow of 40 billion.
Of the $2.5 billion in overseas accounts, more than $500 million was used to set up a port development and shipping company in Odisha.
The total investment in the 100-acre technology park in Mumbai is about US$300 million.
In the future, the ports of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat will basically be aligned with Ennore Port.
After removing all these big projects, his small treasury was left with only $600 million.
This is not the end yet. Five-star hotels in other cities are still being planned, and God knows how much they will cost.
The power plant also needs to be expanded, and the cement plant in Dhanbad is still under construction, all of which requires money.
Oh, by the way, mobile phone signal base stations are currently only being piloted in Mumbai.
Thinking about the future full India coverage, Ron felt his scalp tingling.
$600 million, plus a cash flow of Rs 40 billion, might not be enough.
He is engaged in physical business, which requires large investments to get big returns.
Well, real estate development is also considered an entity.
Unfortunately, we are in the midst of a financial crisis and Indian banks have tightened their lending policies across the board.
Ron had to pay for most of the ports and hotels he set up himself.
He can also wait for a year or two until the aftermath of the financial crisis is over before going to the bank for a loan.
But it was too late, as it was already the turn of the millennium. Hot money was pouring into India, and all industries began to accelerate their development.
Real oligarchs are those who have already taken their positions before the trend emerges.
Ron was in a hurry. He had several meetings at Sur Electric and then rushed to India Mobile without stopping.
It was a five-story office building in South Mumbai, and he had rented out the entire building.
The largest number of people here are customer service staff, with more than 300 people.
They sit in the paging center all day, forwarding messages to the corresponding pagers according to the call requirements.
Thanks to the huge sales of Sur pagers, India Mobile now has more than 500,000 users, and the number is growing at a rate of tens of thousands every month.
Although pagers are not expensive, they are currently the largest profitable business for India Mobile.
The monthly rent of twenty to thirty rupees alone can guarantee the company tens of millions of operating income.
Not to mention the initial hardware investment, the salaries and operating costs of hundreds of employees all depend on this business.
As for mobile phone users, there are very few of them.
There are only about 20,000 people in Mumbai, with an average monthly rent of 600 rupees and a monthly turnover of about 12 million.
It can barely maintain the operation of a few hundred base stations, and it is far from enough to pay the $6 million license fee.
However, mobile phone users have a high opinion of India Mobile, and the signal can be connected in most areas of Mumbai.
It’s not about how smooth it is, but compared to state-owned telecom companies, India Mobile is safer and more convenient.
Thanks to the support of its peers, its reputation has already fermented among the wealthy group.
Ron originally wanted to chat with the engineers from the University of Tokyo, but when he received a call from New Delhi, he set off again without stopping.
(End of this chapter)
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