On Sugary Beer, Steel, And Tourism

The most interesting item in the news today is a report in ET that says our The Chacha State is planning to set up “ultra mega steel plants.” But before I get to that, allow me to digress a bit on something strange that someone pointed out to me the other day: Kingfisher beer contains sugar and corn syrup. No wonder I couldn’t stomach the stuff. I bought a bottle of Carlsberg yesterday and looked up the ingredients – no sugar, no corn syrup. Good beer.

Why would Kingfisher sweeten its beer? I do believe their idea is to make the taste of beer palatable to the youth. Most kids don’t like the taste of beer and prefer drinking sweet drinks like Bacardi Breezer. I think Kingfisher is targeting this section – by destroying the taste of its beer. Methinks Mallya has too much on his hands now, what with a Formula 1 team and an airline that’s not doing too well. Anyway, it’s a great thing that he’s got competition. Vive la competition. Vive la real beer.

Getting back to our The Chacha State that also makes Steel – we cannot ridicule them enough, so allow me to ask another question: Which industry would I encourage if I were The State?

My answer: Why, tourism, of course.

This requires good roads – and Liberty, so that entrepreneurs can keep tourists happy. The hospitality industry must be free. Bars, casinos, nightclubs. And hash cafés. Entrepreneurs must have Liberty.

Tourism is the biggest industry in the world – far, far bigger than steel, or software. Today, India’s tourism earnings are negative: more Indians go abroad than foreigners come in. This is disgraceful for a nation with the highest mountains, dense forests, a desert, 4000 miles of virgin beaches – and so much of history and culture to show off. Disgraceful.

Roads are of critical importance for the growth of Indian tourism. I recall the old days when Haryana hit the tourism map with government-owned bars on highways. This turned out to be quite a success because car-owners from Delhi would drive out to enjoy an afternoon or evening in one of these bars. Today, the highways do not work, and Haryana has dropped off the tourism map.

I even saw this in Goa. The Jog Falls are just 200 km away, but none go because of bad transport connections. I was on a bus from Goa to Mangalore once, and made friends with a fellow passenger, a German sailor from Hamburg. He said he saw such bad roads only in “some parts of Africa.” And note that Chacha’s “golden quadrilateral” does not cover the coast.

So there you have it. I would focus on getting tourism to take off. I wouldn’t give two hoots to steel. In Goa, they say one tourist creates 12 local jobs. Not only that. Tourism creates a happy atmosphere as well. No more “narrow domestic walls.” Openness. Happiness.

Today, official policies are destroying this great industry. There is no Liberty. And there are no roads.

And Chacha wants to also make steel.