On 7/1/07, Udhay Shankar N <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
http://www.reuters.com/article/basicindustries-SP-A/idUSDEL17439320070627?pageNumber=1&sp=true [...] "If I can buy a 30,000 rupee scooter, then I can now hope to buy a car for 100,000 rupees when it comes out. Now, people like me can think about owning a car," said Aman, a 39-year-old Indian chauffeur who earns about $150 a month. "I drive cars for my employers. Maybe I will drive my own car one day."
The obvious question is, who has the oil for all of this? Certainly not us. And more over this phenomenon is a problem beyond just the environment. In a society with no social guarantees of income and health care, how does a majority of India justify putting aside a huge portion of their income towards a car? In the above example, it would be almost 17 months gross income towards the $2500 car. Something similar seems to happen with people who currently buy more expensive cars on a somewhat better income. (I wonder if there is any data available around the portion of income the average Indian puts aside for a car. ) India has in its past had some really bad times; in comparison the past 60 independent years have been mostly great. I am worried that this country's economic managers are setting up the nation for a very tough future. The present landscape of coalition governments built on partisan causes and corruption only provides token governance at best. I am afraid of a rather bad future that will cause a lot of collateral damage. Cheeni
