My India, After 10 Years (Part 5)
Check other articles in the series...The answer to India’s growth may lie in a much tighter alliance between India and the US. These alliances will need to come from both industry and government and should be at the level of the reconstruction of Europe after the second world war. India has to do a great deal of catching up over the next twenty years. The growth cannot be just organic, but has to be well planned.
The US and India have a good fit in many respects. An example, the arrangement of large cities spread over large empty expanses is the same for India and the US. People now want to travel in hours and not days. You can now see in India a low cost air transportation infrastructure similar to the US. India is about to enter a major development phase in a scale unseen in the past.
The opportunity for the US and India lies in the transfer of technology and know-how that will prepare India for the growth expected over the next 20 years. It will take India at least that long to become a world power. This transfer and investment level will generate an enviable relationship between the two powers, based on balanced and mutual benefits.
To get a feel for the magnitude of the opportunity, compare the purchases an average middle class family makes today with that of lower economic classes. This difference multiplied by 500 million and more, will be the growth engine in India over the next 20 to 30 years. Over five hundred million people will want to become middle class consumers. And in India this growth will be market driven. Also consider the opportunities in developing growth without destroying the environment. The US can sure learn from this experience and India could avoid the ecological disasters seen in major cities in East Asia.
Finally, here is my laundry list of improvements that India needs to have. It is simple a collection of things I saw that need to be fixed now and in the future. The private sector alone is not sufficient, since the private sector invests where the money already is, but it is India as a whole that needs to improve the levels of standards far all its citizens.
* Sanitation and garbage removal
* Roadwork improvements
* Energy generation and delivery
* Planned housing to replace temporary housing
* Improve inner city public transportation
* Reduce and regulate car traffic. Laws must be enforced.
* Clean tap water.
* Well planned and executed public works
* Improve public health facilities far all
* Provide early education for all children
India, I wish you the very best in the coming years.
This segment is part 5 in a 5 part series
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[…] (to be continued) [Part 1] [Part 2] [Part 3] […]
Ms. Mitra, thanks for such a wonderful bog site that is such a great venue for exchange of ideas. It was very of nice Mr. Freyer to take his time and provide his thoughtful analysis. He has brought-up some wonderful points. Thanks to him.
Hi Jorge,
Your Observation of india is incredible in terms of the infrastructure and development challenges it currently faces.
Good observations, Jorge.
India might be wise to emphasize interurban rail rather than make the mistake the U.S. has made and depend so heavily on roads for travel. If the car comes to dominate India as it does the U.S., then good-bye Mumbai. (The U.S., too, will have to invest in railways in a big way over the next 50 years.)
David, Yes, the entire world should focus more on (a) public transportation (b) walking lifestyles, so that personal transportation needs and the associated congestion and pollution it creates are dramatically reduced.