subject: India Shining or India Setting? by:Dr. Shikha Suman [print this page] As election is nearing in India, we are flooded with hundreds of India Shining campaigns. These are visuals of Indias journey over the past 60 years with every political party taking credit for anything and everything they can. These campaigns make us believe that we are looking at an India which is an economic and military powerhouse that is striding firmly towards being a superpower of the world. On the economic front, military front, India has come a long way. From fighting drought and famine to now the .. Chandrayaan India has achieved a lot. The most recent moon mission Chandrayaan has put India on the global space technology map where very few countries figure. A newspaper headline in the UK summed up the launch as Moon Mission takes Indias aspirations right out this world. One can paint a very rosy picture of India.
On the other hand, series of events that have occurred in various parts of the country, in past six months, speak otherwise. These events compel us, the average Indian, to stop and ponder on the direction we want India to take.
A couple of months ago India Inc. got a taste of the weak political system after the Nano fiasco. After the drama that unfolded in Singur many analysts felt that although India has over the past five decades made a good deal of progress on the economic front, the weak leg continues to be its political system. The impact of Nano pulling out of Singur is not restricted to that place or to West Bengal but will show on Indias global image. Besides the cost of the global image that India has to pay, cost overruns caused by delays at Singur, where Tata Motors had invested about $350 million, had already raised the cost of production of the Nano. This has led to the huge economic cost that is aggravated by the already tight monetary policy and weak economic growth.
Now coming to the uneasy calm that prevails in our countrys commercial capital. Mumbai city contributes to no less than 10% of all factory employment, 60% of customs duty collections, 40% of income tax collections, 40% of foreign trade and 20% of central excise tax collections of India. Adding to this it produces a whopping Rs. 40 billion (US $9 billion) in corporate taxes. Many of the Indian companies that form a part of the fortune global 500 companies like State Bank of India, Tata Group, Reliance etc. are based in Mumbai. It is often reffered to as the New York of India .. the city that never sleeps. One can only imagine the impact it will have on the economy on India when this city comes to a halt due to violence by political and terrorist outfits.
Over the past few months there have a number of trains and buses that were cancelled due to riots across India. Travelers have been stranded sometimes by groups in Rajasthan, Bihar, Orissa, Karnataka to name a few. More often than not these agitations backed by political parties. These agitations are caused due to inter state clashes, inter religious clashes or the common agenda for any political party Reservations. All these riots, agitations take a toll on the economic growth of an already growing economy.
Delhi is considered to be a shoppers paradise. The recent bomb blasts in the national capital have also seen a sharp fall in the number of people visiting markets. Malls in Delhi have witnessed upto a 35% decrease in footfalls, especially on weekends, as people are scared to get to crowded areas. This fear brings down the commercial activity thus having adverse effects on economy at large.
About the author
Dr. Shikha Suman - Ph.D from IIT Kanpur in Innovation and Technology Management,Heads Sampling Research Pvt. Ltd, providing end to end Market, Business, Industry & Financial Research, Database management, field operations & Outsourcing solutions.
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