Whilst I agree with most of what you have said RE: the need for basic/manufacturing industries, it is not true that India does not manufacture anything.
India has created an industrial base that is :
- large (enough to cater to all Indian needs)
- deep (owns the technology they use)
India manufactures its own cars, trucks, heavy engineering equipment, industrial chemicals, televisions, steel, cement, soap, shampoo etc. etc.
If you come to India you will see that scarcely any product is fully imported (except PCs). It's all manufactured in India.
The problem is :
- the largest Indian companies are still very small by global standards
- they have not faced too much competition (India being a closed ecnomy till not very long ago) and are thus inefficient
- they have bought and absorbed technology, but do not do R&D of their own. For new stuff they keep buying technology from the West
So as India opens up as per WTO rules, most Indian manufacturing companies will crumble when faced by cheaper products from Malaysia / S. Korea / China, and giant MNCs from US and Europe.
Reliance is a huge, listed, petro-chemical company. They are the largest listed company in India.
They are not in the business of charity. They are in the business of making money.
Their business plan for this launch is hard-nosed and focussed on making money. It is not altruistic. Their vision is to :
- provide a phone to every citizen at low tariffs
- AND make money on every subscriber
There is no government intervention / funding on this project. So there is no question of public funds being spent on providing cell phones to citizens when they should instead be spent on poverty alleviation.
Surely, living in a capitalist economy like the US, you agree that a corporate has the right to invest its money in whatever venture that it may decide, will bring the greatest returns.
The current Indian mobile network is GSM (ie. what is used in Europe and Asia).
The network being launched by Reliance is CDMA (which is what is used in USA).
So you can roam in India with yr current mobile, but on the Airtel / Bharte / Orange networks. Not on the new Reliance network.
Slashdot Mirror
Whilst I agree with most of what you have said RE: the need for basic/manufacturing industries, it is not true that India does not manufacture anything. India has created an industrial base that is : - large (enough to cater to all Indian needs) - deep (owns the technology they use) India manufactures its own cars, trucks, heavy engineering equipment, industrial chemicals, televisions, steel, cement, soap, shampoo etc. etc. If you come to India you will see that scarcely any product is fully imported (except PCs). It's all manufactured in India. The problem is : - the largest Indian companies are still very small by global standards - they have not faced too much competition (India being a closed ecnomy till not very long ago) and are thus inefficient - they have bought and absorbed technology, but do not do R&D of their own. For new stuff they keep buying technology from the West So as India opens up as per WTO rules, most Indian manufacturing companies will crumble when faced by cheaper products from Malaysia / S. Korea / China, and giant MNCs from US and Europe.
Reliance is a huge, listed, petro-chemical company. They are the largest listed company in India. They are not in the business of charity. They are in the business of making money. Their business plan for this launch is hard-nosed and focussed on making money. It is not altruistic. Their vision is to : - provide a phone to every citizen at low tariffs - AND make money on every subscriber There is no government intervention / funding on this project. So there is no question of public funds being spent on providing cell phones to citizens when they should instead be spent on poverty alleviation. Surely, living in a capitalist economy like the US, you agree that a corporate has the right to invest its money in whatever venture that it may decide, will bring the greatest returns.
The current Indian mobile network is GSM (ie. what is used in Europe and Asia). The network being launched by Reliance is CDMA (which is what is used in USA). So you can roam in India with yr current mobile, but on the Airtel / Bharte / Orange networks. Not on the new Reliance network.