The Global India!

The Global India!

Yes there are bumpy roads leading to any main city centre and most roads in the cities of Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai are filled with rickshaws, over-crowded buses, 2-wheelers, noisy old vehicles, various animal drawn carts of goods— and even the cows, dogs, donkeys moving on the road along with the pedestrians ignoring the blare of honking horns and shouting drivers. Trash is strewn about, and the landscape is hazy with pollution!

But in contrast to this scene are numerous gardens, trees, plush offices, restaurants, hotels and homes, the various ultra modern cars now on the streets, beautiful women all around, neon lit banners and ads, cybercafés, executives in their Versace coats and Ray Ban glasses, engineers in their casuals sipping the beer from a multinational brand, designer stores all around, latest electronic equipment and no soul without a mobile phone in his hand.

And yes these scenes co-exist! Welcome to the Global India!

If you are wondering whether India is the right Country to Outsource then here are a few Pointers:

: India is in the centre of the globalization and offshore outsourcing is a product of this fast moving globalization.

: But for the ease in communication, offshore outsourcing could be unthinkable. There has been a surge in the Communication industry in India and telephone, Internet, and Data centre are now widely accessible.

: India has written its success story not in spite of the chaotic, robust democracy, but because of it.

: Socialism and import-substitution, produced generations of entrepreneurs who had to develop indigenous products, from blades to satellites, with their own resources. That self-reliance is helping India now

: A liberal and Open Economy now, Interest rates have fallen, Forex regulations are less stringent, the rupee is fully convertible and import and export regulations are widely in favor of the business.

: By 2020, about 45% of Indians will be between the ages of 18 and 59, as compared with 35% now. Now having about half your country’s population in the working age and at that too the second biggest country in terms of its population, it is the biggest advantage that will propel India in the next 50 years towards an economy unparalleled by any.

: Education has always been the highlight of India’s growth and will continue to do so in the future. With the stress on education of a child right from the age of 3-4 yrs and with top notch engineering and graduation schools all over the country, India has and will continue to produce the most number of graduates and post graduates in various fields from Arts, science to technology.

: Language has always been considered as a barrier for outsourcing, but not with India. Most schools and Universities are English Medium and those that are not still have English as compulsory part of a child’s education. We have started seeing European countries shifting base to outsourcing to India. This has also been widely because German and French are also offered as second language to students and the future will soon see most schools adopting a foreign language compulsory apart from English.

: The Geographical Location of India is now being leveraged strategically and the time zone of being GMT+5 ½ hrs (Strangely India is one of the very few countries which is not a whole number ahead or after GMT) actually suits the need of America, Europe, and Australasia.

More on India, technology and Outsourcing coming soon. To close this essay, I would say India has seen just over 50 years of Independence, give it another 50, and we will have a country where everyone will want to go!