CONVOCATION ADDRESS BY SHRI HARI SHANKAR SINGHANIA AT THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP DEVEOPMENT INSTITUTE OF INDIA, AHMEDABAD ON SATURDAY, 17^Th SEPTEMBER, 2005

This even led to a spate of nationalization. Foreign investment was also not encouraged. Despite this restrictive environment Indian entrepreneurs proved their resilience and progressed, albeit not at the pace they could have.

Many of our Group’s businesses like Insurance (National Insurance Company with branches all over India and spread in the Middle East and South East Asia), Banking, Aluminium, Coal, and Manganese were nationalised in the late 60s and early 70s. There have been number of setbacks and failures along with successes. Failures are part and parcel of entrepreneurship and one has to learn from them.

You must always remember that you need to build a strong value based character to succeed as an entrepreneur. Integrity, honesty and fairness are the basic tenets of this value system. You will be respected and trusted if you have them. There are occasions when one faces the dilemma of short-term gains versus taking a decision as per one’s value system. My own experience shows that whenever I faced such “Dharma Sankat”, I could stick to my value system. The end result has always been positive. I strongly recommend you to give this the importance it deserves.

In view of the increasing competition – national as well as global and complexity in the market place, entrepreneurs have to sharpen their management skills while managers have to imbibe entrepreneurship. Even in the big enterprises including Multi-National Companies, increasingly managers who are reaching the top are those with entrepreneurial talents.

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