India once had more power than China
December 10th, 2007 - by Nazia VasiI recently came across a bit of information that surprised me. A world bank report states that prior to 1980, India had more power, roads and telecom than China.
“India’s infrastructure shortages hinder the growth of labor-intensive manufacturing industries that generate jobs for low and semi-skilled workers. While India had more power, roads, and telecom than China in 1980, China now has an enormous and growing advantage over India in infrastructure.” - says the world bank report.
In less than 30 years, China has superceeded India on all infrastructure fronts. In fact it has not only built roads, power supply and communication for the present demand, but has already invested heavily in infrastructure for the future.
It got me thinking…..where and how did India start slacking?
Infrastructure is today, the premier reason skeptical investors stay away from India, a blemish on our growth, Indians are not to proud of. As a result, India has vowed to invest $500 billion over the next few years and is actively seeking foreign investment to re-pave the highway to super growth.
The graph below shows the staggering rise of China’s infrastructure Vs India’s.
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December 11th, 2007 at 11:52 am
that was before the dragon woke up & now the dragon shall not sleep
December 11th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
I find the attitude of Chinese very interesting in this respect. Almost a one-sided view that China is the be all and end all and no other country is worthy of comparison. India is hugely important to China. As a market to sell Chinese products too, to selling labor and construction to in order to satisfy India’s own needs. India also is a gateway from China into the Middle East. China’s Dragon may well have woken up, but India’s Elephant has too. With the influence of Russia with both of them the real story is not “China is far ahead of everyone else” but more the emergence of a China/India/Russia trading bloc set to challenge the US and Europe. That’s the real story, and the balance of global trade and power is shifting. Not something China can achieve on it’s own.
December 12th, 2007 at 1:56 am
“China is the be all and end all and no other country is worthy of comparison”. What exactly is this?
December 12th, 2007 at 8:40 am
Of course Chris is correct, India is hugely important to China. So far the Chinese have only had the US, Japan and Europe in mind when they think about taking a page from. But among the Chinese intelligensia India is quickly gaining attention that it deserves. China has a lot to learn from India.
On the other hand, even though the Chinese do not possess the extremely high level of distrust and disgust the Indians generally have toward China and the Chinese, as witnessed by many people on various Internet forums (I don’t blame the Indians); growing number of Chinese are aware of the fact that numerous Chinese companies were kicked out of India/barred from investing in India and the fact that India, increasingly has become a card the US uses to keep China in check.
December 12th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
Both the country’s are learning from eachother, the healthy competition is doing both nations good, however an interesting fact to look out for in the years to come would be to see whether India or China’s growth model is more sustainable and successful. China might be doing better than India now, but many invesment pundits predict China will peak in the next 4 years, but India’s elephant will continue to rule atleast until 2050.
December 16th, 2007 at 8:52 am
The fact that both have massive energy needs is apparent. Which is why you’ll se both cosying up to Russia to obtain it. The Russia/China/India trading bloc will be a counterbalance to the EU and the US - it fits the political portfolio of all three countries and all have been very close politically in the past.
October 9th, 2008 at 12:53 am
Very nice site!