India will not be sorted out within a year: Anthony Good

MUMBAI: When Anthony Good arrived in India for the first time in August 1970, his impression was that "nothing would ever change" in this country. Now, on his 399th trip here, the octogenarian, who has been instrumental in bringing marquee British brands like Marks & Spencer, Sun Life and Scottish & Newcastle to India, says that it seems like "nothing would stop changing" here.
Good has seen India evolve from being "locked in a time warp", when there was hardly any competition with only a couple of players in each field, to now, when the country has become Asia's third largest economy with most global brands competing to grow here.
"On my debut visit, there were just two auto brands plying Indian roads - the Ambassador and Premier Padmini. Same was the case with aviation as Air India and Indian Airlines dominated the skies," says Good, chairman, Cox & Kings, the world's oldest tour operator. It was for Cox & Kings that he had come to India for the first time when the company was owned by Grindlays bank.
The Brit reminisces the transformation of the country from an era of Indianization to globalization - when foreign brands like IBM and Coca-Cola had to quit India because of the Foreign Exchange Regulation Act (FERA) that restricted foreign ownership only to return later when the government relaxed norms.
To escape the Act's clause of Indianization, Grindlays was forced to buy the UK-based Cox & Kings to stay afloat. Later, Grindlays was forced to sell Cox & Kings due to another law, this time an American rule that prohibited banks from having presence in non-banking businesses.
Good, who only had a board seat on Cox & Kings, subsequently became one of the promoters of the travel services firm. "In those days, a seven-day trip to Mumbai with a stay at the Taj hotel cost about 191 pounds (about Rs 19,000 at current forex rate). Today, a similar trip costs 1,370 pounds (about Rs 1.35 lakh)," says Good, who has been making at least four visits a year for the past 45 years.
During his long association with India, apart from his responsibility at Cox & Kings, he has, through his media firm, played a key role in bringing well-known labels to the country as well as aided the Taj hotels in acquiring the luxurious St James Court in London.
The tall and fit entrepreneur points out that in the 70s there was a divide between people at the top and the bottom. "There was no middle class then. But today, it is this young, affluent middle class that is driving India's consumption story," says Good, whose elephantine memory is evident from the minute details he remembers from events that happened decades ago.
Though he tries to refrain from talking about politics, he couldn't resist from making a comment on the current situation in India. "Voters everywhere tend to be impatient. Just as Rome wasn't built in a day, India too won't be sorted out in a year (referring to the Modi government). It takes time," says Good, who will be back in March, marking his 400th trip to India.