Gabriel,
You are absolutely right about the Indian economy and its present transformation from the 'Nehru Model'. Our Industrial products are yet to make a dent in the world markets and many of the Public Sector Undertakings are nothing but behemoths that were formed to 'transfer' technology to India and have outgrown their utility. They are only a source of jobs and till late the Government had to pump in money to keep them afloat. The so called Socialistic approach has not worked too well. Nehru had rather grandiose ideas for India, which were really offset by the rampant corruption of the 70s & 80s. I am sure many would be remembering the food shortages of the mid-70s.
Yes, quality control is sorely lacking in Indian products. The Japanese stand out with their quality control standards. Many businesses in India only want to make a quick buck without providing the quality. For that matter, the quality of Japanese brand products not made in Japan itself, is a notch lower than the ones made in Japan. The Chinese cannot match the Japanese, but have been flooding the world with their cheap products.
I think that India has the technological infrastructure to be great, but we need clean administrations in every state of the Union and zero tolerance for corruption.
Nagesh Bhatcar [EMAIL PROTECTED]
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 16:48:00 +1100 (EST)
--- [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Economy 90 years behind US: WB > PTI Chennai Feb 10: Despite being �star performer� > in terms of economic > growth, India will take at least another 34 years to > achieve the GDP level > of the United States in 1950s, a senior World Bank > economist said here > today.
IMHO, India would have already reached near western standards in GDP if it wasn't for all the controls imposed on production and competition during the Nehruvian dynasty rule, based on Gandhi's swadeshi movement - no doubt a good idea at the time, but unfortunately bad in the long term. Heavy controls unfortunately lead to corruption and the growth of mafias (see what Bombay's and US's prohibition led to).
It is competition (whether foreign or local) that goes towards increasing quality. And it is only now that the Indian market has opened up to foreign goods, resulting in markedly improved quality in a lot of goods. (India did have some good-quality stuff before, but the goods were rare and in cases, out-dated.)
I only hope for India's sake that companies become more reliable in exports especially with regard to deliveries, and more consistent with quality.
Cheers,
Gabriel de Figueiredo Melbourne - Australia ex-Ponjekar ani Lotlekar
