Geography Reference
In-Depth Information
Figure 8-18
It is now very trendy for the elite and the upper-
middle classes to live in W estern-style houses.
Many of these are gated communities in new
suburban developments.
© Ed Kashi/NG Image
Collection.
Wireless, broadband PC networks are being ex-
panded. Microsoft plans to construct 50,000 Internet
cafés over the next four years.
T Television is playing an equally powerful role in In-
dia' s transformation. There was only one state broad-
caster in 1991. The station' s mission was to unify the
country . Color TV arrived in the 1980s. In 1983, televi-
sion signals were available to 28 percent of the popula-
tion; now it reaches more than 90 percent. CNN and
MTV arrived in 1991. As of 2008, Indians could choose
from as many as 350 channels. Now “T “Tellywood” stars
are challenging the fame of Bollywood icons.
Despite jarring economic inequities, television has
generated a sense of national community within one of
the world' is most diverse populations. This is critical in
an era of intense political, social, and economic transfor-
mation.
oriented economy accelerated with the BJP , which came
into power in 1999. The notorious system of quotas
and import licenses for machinery and consumer goods
has been dismantled. Foreign ownership of Indianfirms
is now possible, and transnationals such as Pepsi,
Coca-Cola, Sony , and Phillips have entered the Indian
marketplace.
Foreign trade is growing, particularly in the service
sector. India' is software industry is spreading from its
Bengaluru and Hyderabad base and finding customers
abroad, especially in the United States, which outsources
many services there. Software exports have been growing
at an annual rate of 50 percent.
Fresh from its success in the global software and in-
formation technology markets, India is fast becoming a
key outsourcing center for making everything from cars,
to steel, to pharmaceuticals. India has a plethora of engi-
neers and designers capable of creating low-cost, high-
end products. China and Southeast Asia cannot compete
in this arena.
T Transnationals come to India to establish their pres-
ence in the huge domestic market. The South Korean car
giant Hyundai provides an example. Hyundai built a car
assembly plant in Chennai in 1996. In 2002, the com-
pany grabbed a 20 percent share of India' s rapidly grow-
ing passenger car market. A confident Hyundai is
investing millions to increase its production capacity to
250,000 cars a year. Hyundai is not alone in India. Ford
and Suzuki are using their Indian operations to produce
compact cars for markets in Asia, Latin America, and
Africa.
THE ROLE OF GOVERNMENT POLICY
For years, government policies founded in socialist ideals
served to block economic development. Government-
operated institutions, state-run enterprises, and entan-
gled regulations made efficiency unachievable. As one
Indian author noted, “If there is to be an Indian tiger, it
must be freed from the shackles that keep it languishing
in its small cage.”
In 1991, the Congress Party began a program of eco-
nomic liberalization, including industry deregulation,
privatization of state monopolies, and easing of foreign
investment rules. The transition to a more market-
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