India, the global economy's idiot savant

Today's Economic Times carries an interesting preview to an article to be published in October 31 issue of the Fortune magazine. Some excerpts (full article here) -

"Bad government and inadequate infrastructure " prevented India from matching China's economic growth although both nations started reforms in early 1990s, the 'Fortune' magazine said on Friday. Slow disinvestment of PSUs, high tax rates and lack of labour reforms also came in the way of India attaining the same pace of growth as its Asian neighbour, the Hong Kong-based magazine said in an article to be published in October 31. Comparing India and China, it said "China's economic miracle was achieved by getting the basics right... India, by contrast, is the global economy's idiot savant. India flubs the obvious stuff." Though India and China had the same per capita income in early 1990s and started economic reforms at the same time, Fortune said "per capita income in China is more than twice what it is in India, and China takes in 12 times as much foreign investment."

Otherwise, Fortune was all praise for India's capability of producing hundreds of thousands of brilliant engineers a year, software houses managing complex data across thousands of miles for the world's most sophisticated clients. "India has world-class business leaders and, unlike China, solvent banks," it said, adding "yet, India flubs the obvious stuff."

I can't agree more to the Fortune article. Recently Infosys Chief Mentor, Mr. Narayan Murthy appeared on the BBC show, Hard Talk. Here is one relevant blurb from his interview -

Q. Well let me ask you, about the growing global competition. How do you think are you going to deal with the Chinese threat?
Murthy - At present India is at least five years ahead of China because of knowledge of the English language, then the project managing experience of Indians.

Q. But China has something which you have acknowledged that you don’t. It has a government that can deliver infrastructure, roads, communication. If the Chinese want something, the Chinese government can deliver it. This government cannot.
Murthy - We have been discussing with the leadership at both the state and the central level that India has to run faster to maintain the lead it has over China. I think in terms of higher education and talent availability, India has a decent advantage.

I hope our politicians and bureaucrats would listen to people like you and act quickly.

Q. If you can look ten years into the future do you think India will be in the lead when it comes to global technology?
Murthy - India will continue to lead as long as our politicians, bureaucrats, corporate leaders and academicians realise that we have to work harder and smarter need to do things with a sense of alacrity, we need to create better physical infrastructure, better education infrastructure.

Q. And if you do not....
Murthy - Then I don’t think India will have the position that it has today. There is no doubt about that. All these advantages will disappear like dew on a sunny morning if we become complacent, if we don’t act with alacrity.

There, Mr.Murthy has said it. India certainly holds a decent advantage when it comes to English proficiency or technical skills for that matter, but now that new competition is growing after seeing the Indian success, we are losing our edge fast. Unless the state comes forward to provide the worldclass infrastructure these firms want and deserve, India can't carry this edge for long.

But then we've politicians like Deve Gowda, who can't pull themselves up from the petty politics they spent their whole life in. Bangalore, which is the leader when it comes to the Indian IT revolution, is suffering badly because of the tussle between Gowda and the ex-CM SM Krishna. Gowda is acting as a roadblock to various projects which were started to improves the city's infrastructure.