I will just have some soup." United Technologies Corporation India President - Building and Industrial Systems Zubin Irani makes his intent clear right away. My heart skips a beat - a frugal meal means a short conversation and a boring piece for you to read. My task is to talk him out of this resolve. Irani is just back from a cruise with his in-laws where some food didn't agree with him. (He counts himself lucky in the years when he has to do one cruise; in the unluckier ones, he has to do two - his parents, especially his mother, too, love cruises.)
The other reason Irani wants to eat light is that he is a fitness freak. Last year, he had taken part in the "Half Iron Man" contest at Phuket, which involved swimming two miles in the sea, cycling 70 km and running 12 km. Irani did it in 4 hours, 44 minutes and 44 seconds, and was among the 1,200 men, of the 4,000 that started, who managed to complete the triathlon. Irani wants to take part in the event this year as well, and is preparing hard for it. He cycles to Faridabad from the heart of New Delhi (that's almost 70 km) three times a week, runs in the Lutyens' Zone and swims wherever he can (the swimming pool in his kids' school included). This year, he wants to raise the bar: two miles in the sea, 100 km on the bicycle and 21 km on his two legs.
That's more than what an average samosa- and pakora-munching and lassi-drinking Indian does in a year. In between all the strenuous training, Irani puts in 10 to 12 hours of work every day, selling Otis elevators, Carrier air-conditioning plants and a whole range of fire-safety equipment. Surely, he can have more than just soup? Irani relents. We order seafood soup, steamed fish, fried chicken, vegetables and rice.
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The menu at The Spice Route, at The Imperial, traces the journeys of the spice traders of old: from the Malabar coast to Sri Lanka, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. There are massive wood pillars, reminiscent of old Kerala houses. The restaurant was immensely popular when it started many years ago. It gave the people of Delhi, raised on Punjabi, Chinese and Thai food, the first genuine taste of the exotic east. Its flavours were unique, and its ingredients were authentic. People brought their guests from overseas proudly to The Spice Route. Over the years, the novelty factor seems to have worn off. Today, the buzz is missing; only three tables are occupied. The food, when it arrives, is not very different from what is available in dozens of restaurants across the city - in flavour as well as in presentation.
Irani says he developed a fondness for swimming and the outdoors while growing up at Jamshedpur (he was born there) where his father, J J Irani, worked for Tata Steel. (After he retired from the Tata Sons board on turning 75, Irani Sr has settled down in Jamshedpur.) The township was maintained by Tata Steel, so it had lots of parks and a host of sporting facilities. Irani's childhood was spent swimming and playing cricket and tennis. But his father had other plans for him. Irani Sr was frequently invited to lecture students at the various Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs). Since he had a company plane to himself, he would take his son along. At hindsight, Irani realises that was his father's way of nudging him towards the country's premier engineering colleges. In order to help him prepare better for the entrance exams, Irani was sent to the Delhi Public School during his final years. In 1992, Irani joined IIT Kanpur to study metals and metallurgy.
That would have satisfied most Indians - a cushy job was guaranteed. The Iranis wanted more. "The ultimate aim was that I should study abroad," says Irani, "But my father couldn't afford the fees. The only option was to do well at IIT and then get a scholarship to one of the prestigious colleges overseas." He topped the metals and metallurgy stream and got admission in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) four years later. After MIT, he was ready for work. Joining the Tata group was never an option, says Irani. His first job was with McKinsey in Cleveland. Seven years later, in 2006, he got the offer to run Carrier in India. In 2010, he was made in charge of all the three consumer verticals of United Technologies: Otis, Carrier and fire & security. All the three CEOs now reported to him. Now, the three businesses have been brought together and Irani is in charge.
I had first met Irani in 2010. At that time, he had said that his target was to raise United Technologies' turnover (it owns other businesses too such as Sikorsky helicopters and Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines but Irani doesn't look after them) from around $500 million to $2 billion by 2015 and double its market share in elevators, air-conditioning and fire-security systems to 30 per cent. That target looks elusive, thanks to the slowdown; Irani closed 2013 with a turnover of $1 billion. Like most businessmen and senior executives, he found the last few years of inactivity frustrating and is hopeful things will improve now that Narendra Modi is the prime minister. "Two things will happen now," Irani says. "The existing infrastructure and real estate projects will move faster, but for new projects to start we will probably have to wait till the beginning of next year."
Immediately after the election results were announced, Irani had travelled to the United Technologies headquarters at Hartford, Connecticut, to make a presentation on what the change in government meant for India. There was much excitement there, he says. Were those people anxious about the fate of religious minorities in India under the Bharatiya Janata Party's rule? "I am a Zoroastrian," says Irani, "And I have never faced discrimination of any kind." Clearly, the business community backs Modi to the hilt. Irani hasn't had a one-on-one with Modi but has met him through forums like the Confederation of Indian Industry. Irani is ignorant of the 2003 fracas between Modi and the industry association because it happened before he returned to India.
United Technologies has brought together the three businesses of elevators, air-conditioning and fire-security systems so that they can be sold together as an integrated solution to real estate developers and infrastructure companies. This helps because Irani can focus on a handful of large customers. He credits the recent Rs 400-crore order his company received from Larsen & Toubro (L&T), to supply 700 elevators and escalators for the Hyderabad Metro, to the "excellent relations between our two companies". L&T chairman, A M Naik, shares a strong rapport with the United Technologies chairman, Louis R Chenevret, Irani says. For the record, United Technologies' presence in India goes back a long time: the first Otis elevator was fitted at Raj Bhawan in Kolkata in 1892 and Carrier's first installation was at the Rambagh Palace in Jaipur in 1930.
Real estate and infrastructure happen to be the two most corrupt sectors of the economy. Since a large army of bureaucrats and political leaders live off the speed money paid by developers, any attempt to make the processes transparent and objective is systematically torpedoed. Because it's an American company, United Technologies is barred from paying bribes overseas to get work done. How does Irani negotiate that? "In my eight years, I am yet to get an unethical request," he says. "We would rather walk away from an order than entertain such a request." All employees have to do four online courses every year on ethical business practices (Irani has done 32 so far), and anyone found guilty is required to leave. I ask Irani if he has indeed sacked someone on these grounds. He nods.
My fears of it being a short lunch have proved wrong. Irani eats well and talks candidly. When the plates are removed, we realise that we have been chatting for an hour-and-a-half. Irani gets a call from his office on his mobile phone. He asks for the meeting to be rescheduled. It's time for us to wrap up. We walk along the elegant corridors of The Imperial. Paintings done by 19th century travellers to India line both sides. As I speculate about the worth of the art, Irani points out that the hotel has a top-class Carrier chiller plant and old Otis elevators, "which work very well". We climb down the stairs into the hot Delhi sun.