When I returned from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1972, my father was running a forging business with a turnover of Rs 3.5 crore. But I had no patience and wanted to grow the business via exports.

The Indian business has largely grown on the back of exports. The domestic markets, as far as our Indian business is concerned, actually have contracted because of the contraction in the medium and heavy commercial vehicle space.

If my strength is technology, financial structuring is my son's skill.

We book our exports forward for more than a year, and so we have a fixed rate. We do not get the spot rate that we see in the market every day.

In business, you try to minimise risk.

From an operational perspective, exports challenge companies to design, develop, manufacture and supply products to discerning customers in global markets. This, in turn, motivates companies to scale up the value chain, which results in higher realisations.