Is IT Success Damaging India’s Infrastructure?
Saturday, September 4th, 2010
A report dated August 25, 2010 in the New York Times makes the point that India’s success in Information Technology is leading to a poor infrastructure of “potholed roadways, collapsing bridges, rickety railroads and a power grid so unreliable that many modern office buildings run their own diesel generators to make sure the lights and computers stay on.”
According to the report, the reason is not lack of money but lack of civil engineers. In an earlier age, civil engineering was an elite occupation in India. In today’s India, however, even qualified civil engineers might be writing software code for a Japanese automaker.
The huge difference in pay received by engineers who write code for foreign clients and those who work on India’s infrastructural projects has meant that there is a serious shortage of civil engineers working in the infrastructure sector. And the sector is showing the results in the form of roads unfit to drive in. The rainwater-filled potholes on the road can even pose danger to life and limb during the monsoons.
Poor infrastructure is affecting industries that require good road and rail networks. Even more importantly, it leads to lower quality life for the general populace, most of who live in villages away from the healthcare and other conveniences available in urban centers.
Of course there are other reasons also for the poor infrastructure, such as poor planning and corruption. However, shortage of civil engineers is an important contributor to the problem.
Read the report at New York Times.
Tags: india, information technology
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LG Electronics Focuses on Rural Areas
Saturday, May 8th, 2010
LG of South Korea is the market leader in consumer durables in both the urban and rural markets of India. The Wall Street Journal’s Jyoti Malhotra interviewed LG’s Managing Director Moon B Shin. The following observations on rural markets were made during the interview reported in the Business Section of WSJ .
LG focuses on rural markets not only in India but elsewhere also. Rural is the future. In India, 73% of the population are rural residents, with 35% of them owning a television, 5% refrigerators and 1% washing machines. Diposable incomes in rural India have grown considerably owing to a healthy domestic market.
Though the average rural household income is still about half the average urban income, there are pockets of prosperity as in Punjab and Kerala. In Punjab, farmers get income from three crops every year, while Kerala, the rural is practically indistinguishable from the urban. Other pockets of prosperity include the irriated agricultural belts.
Rural spending is expected to grow further in the years to come with the Indian government spending heavily on education and literacy. An educated populace will have more disposable incomes.
Rural people like bright and beautiful colors and the products for rural areas are designed to cater to this preference. Urban consumers prefer colors like gray or white with a metallic finish. Rural designs also incorporate the capability to handle erratic power supply and the corrosive water of coastal areas.
Read the interview at WSJ.
Tags: business, consumer durables, india, marketing, rural marketing
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