Infrastructure issues

[FT]

Please do not attack me or the source as anti-India for it's critical analysis. We all want what is best for India. But these rants are to shame us and our administrators to look at the reality of our global competiveness.

Of all India's failures, lousy infrastructure may be the most puzzling. The nation's highway network stretches just 124,000 miles, compared with 870,000 miles in China. Most of them are simple two-lane affairs, maintained badly if at all. In 1999 the government launched a national program that will build another 28,000 miles of highways at a cost of $38 billion. The first phase calls for construction of a Golden Quadrilateral highway linking India's four largest cities. It's not enough. Morgan Stanley estimates. India is spending only about $2.5 billion a year building roads, while China is spending $25 billion a year. For goods sent by rail, freight costs are twice the average of other developed countries' and three times those in China. At India's ports, shipments often languish for days waiting for customs clearance and loading berths; goods typically take six to 12 weeks to reach the U.S., compared with two or three weeks for goods from China. Electric power in India costs twice as much as in China: Public utilities sock it to industrial producers to make up for the power they give away to farmers and the urban poor. The national grid is so bad that as much as 40% of the electricity generated is simply lost in transmission.
The result is that firms in India pay far more than rivals in China to produce, distribute, and export their products. Consider the plight of Bharat Forge, India's most successful auto-parts supplier. Bharat has the world's largest single-site forging facility. Over the past five years the company has become a trusted supplier of crankshafts, axle beams, and steering knuckles to top-tier clients such as Toyota, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler. Exports account for 40% of sales. But Bharat is located in Pune, an industrial city 75 miles from Mumbai. CEO Baba Kalyani says that, based solely on distance, his trucks should be able to travel to Mumbai's port and back two times each day. Instead, even with the recent completion of a new highway linking the two cities, a roundtrip typically takes three days. Kalyani figures infrastructure-related delays at the port put him at a 17% cost disadvantage relative to overseas competitors.


*From India on the Move, Fortune, Nov 4

[Mayavi Morpheus]

Please do not attack me or the source as anti-India for it's critical analysis.

Constructive criticism is always good for the nation. We have lot more to do before we become a developed nation and we should learn from the experiences of every other country howeve small or big it may be. Infrastructure is the key component for economic growth but sadly the left views it as elitist megalomania. Anyone remember lalu's statement that the new the Golden Quad will only benefit the rich people who have cars? Unfortunately we elect such incompetent fools who have no statergic vision to the highest offices in the country.

[parinda]

Please do not attack me or the source as anti-India for it's critical analysis.

Constructive criticism is always good for the nation. We have lot more to do before we become a developed nation and we should learn from the experiences of every other country howeve small or big it may be. Infrastructure is the key component for economic growth but sadly the left views it as elitist megalomania. Anyone remember lalu's statement that the new the Golden Quad will only benefit the rich people who have cars? Unfortunately we elect such incompetent fools who have no statergic vision to the highest offices in the country.

New Hindutva ideology "anything that is bad associate it with the left" as though left was ruling the country all along.



BJP thinks that Cow urine and cowdung mixed together in 3:1 ratio is the silver bullet for all the diesases,why should we allow such fools to rule the country..fools are every where its just that people ignore the like minded fools..

[Sharjeel]

Please do not attack me or the source as anti-India for it's critical analysis.

Constructive criticism is always good for the nation. We have lot more to do before we become a developed nation and we should learn from the experiences of every other country howeve small or big it may be. Infrastructure is the key component for economic growth but sadly the left views it as elitist megalomania. Anyone remember lalu's statement that the new the Golden Quad will only benefit the rich people who have cars? Unfortunately we elect such incompetent fools who have no statergic vision to the highest offices in the country.

New Hindutva ideology "anything that is bad associate it with the left" as though left was ruling the country all along.

BJP thinks that Cow urine and cowdung mixed together in 3:1 ratio is the silver bullet for all the diesases,why should we allow such fools to rule the country..fools are every where its just that people ignore the like minded fools..

India will shine, come what may.

[FT]

Right... Left...

What kind of fool are u, Parinda?



Infy's CFO's outburst against Karnataka might not be in the interest of his company, but sure does help reiterate what should be common sensical for the administrators of this country.

[Sidestepping HP]

Right... Left...

What kind of fool are u, Parinda?

He's a damn sorry fool



More on topic in a while.

[Aragorn]

Hey to everyone! Just posting for the first-time on fullhyd.com!



It's great to see that people are actually thinking about the state of the infrastructure in the country - it sucks big time! If India wants to improve at all levels of the society, its high time that not just a few thinkers in the Govt come up with ideas and implement, but the person that actually drives through the pot-hole do something more than just moan.