The Maruti Story: How a Public Sector Company Put India on Wheels

The book begins with the ambitious idea of creating an affordable car for ordinary Indians. The project had to overcome several major obstacles: finding a suitable foreign partner, obtaining government approvals, constructing manufacturing facilities, developing suppliers, creating sales and service networks and meeting ambitious production targets.

R. C. Bhargava was an Indian Administrative Service officer who joined Maruti Udyog Limited in 1981. He became Managing Director in 1985 and Chairman of the Board in 1990. He later returned to Maruti's board and continued to be associated with the company.

The challenge was enormous. The new company had to establish a manufacturing plant, create a supplier ecosystem, develop sales and service networks and produce a car that ordinary Indians could afford. All this had to be done within a public-sector framework involving government procedures and approvals.