Interview to Mario Gil, Director of INDOLINK

“I think we are not vocationally consultants but hope to be trustworthy counsellors.”

Mario Gil, Director of INDOLINK

Mario Gil is Founder and Director of INDOLINK. Mario arrived in India in 1997 to lead the first international set up of the Spanish automotive manufacturer, RINDER. He was only 28 years old and spent the next 7 years living and working in India. In 2004, after succeeding in the set up of Rinder, he started his new project of assisting other foreign companies to set up in India and created INDOLINK. We have interviewed him to learn about his experience.

How did you decide to start INDOLINK?

Between 1997 and 2004 I worked as expatriate Director for RINDER, a Spanish automotive lights manufacturer, setting up their plant in India. This subsidiary was very successful, not only in terms of profits and return on investment, but in various other aspects which had a highly positive effect in the parent company’s performance. I could see that India offered a huge potential for many other Spanish companies, which could derive similar benefits from setting up their business in India.

At the same time, establishing RINDER India was not easy at all. In the process, we had to overcome many obstacles and faced some really difficult times. I learnt a lot from that experience and thought that this was a valuable asset I could offer to other companies willing to establish operations in India.

On top of that, I could see that Spanish companies were already struggling with the growing competition from Low Cost Countries and many were at a grave risk of going bankrupt if they didn’t drastically improve, which is extremely tough in a mature or declining market. I believed India offered them a low cost manufacturing base where they could improve their cost structure, while developing a decisive competitive edge in other areas.

Which have been the major problems faced so far?