On Thursday 29 December 2005 21:04, DJ wrote: > On Thursday 29 December 2005 13:56, JTD wrote: > > We simply did not have the financial and other infrastructure > > necessary to go global. Indian companies also did not have an > > incentive to go global given the fat margins and lack of > > competition in the local market. > > Oh yeah. I remember Narayan Murty telling in an interview how > difficult was it then for Indian companies to go global. Heck! He > said it took them 2 years to get a telephone connection and around > the same time to get computers imported into India! :|
That is cause he's Narayan Murthy - well known even then - for stupid startups like us it was more like 6yrs. And power took a whole 2 yrs in a D zone backward area, MPCB -3 yrs, SSI registration 1 yr. Many of these were chicken and egg. And the subsidies promised by the govt never ever comes unless u are ready with a special lubricant made by RBI. In 1991 (afair) the DOT had rejected my application for manufacture of "Integra" since multifunction fax machines were not in their list of equipment permitted for manufacture. So u go to DOT ND and demo your product to a few sleepy officials, who will then ask you for connections before issuing a letter allowing your equipment to be tested for line compatiblity (u can damage their non functioning network u see). Then off to DGTD and DI then customs and .... all for obtaining manufacture, import and concessional rates of customs licences. If you managed to run this gauntlet and actually make something useful u would have to spend the profits on administering various ledgers to prove that crooked you did not sell the components in the market for a fat profit. In reality there were specialised fake manufacturers doing a good job of importing and selling the components and raw materials to small manufacturers who made stuff for the big manufacturers who did not pay, A vast network of corruption which produced what the market consumed - exorbitantly priced, shoddy beyond imagination, technological stoneage products. What a laugh. The "black" money generated between 1950 and 1990 would have been enough for us to overtake the USA two times over. Mind u one required to be a genius, incredibly machivalean and very very lucky just to stay afloat in business - u never knew what raid u would be the target of. Technology, quality, performance were minor footnotes not even worth glancing at in the scheme of things. So for people who think that freedom is not important think a 100 times and be very happy u were not a player in those great days. -- rgds jtd -- http://mm.ilug-bom.org.in/mailman/listinfo/linuxers
