Discussion: View Thread

India's Late, Late Industrial Revolution

Democratizing Entrepreneurship

Sumit K. Majumdar, University of Texas, Dallas

There is a paradox at the heart of the Indian economy. Indian businessmen and traders are highly industrious and ingenious people, yet for many years Indian industry was sluggish and slow to develop. One of the major factors in this sluggish development was the command and control regime known as the License Raj. This regime has gradually been removed and, after two decades of reform, India is now awakening from its slumber and is experiencing a late, late industrial revolution. This important new book catalogues and explains this revolution through a combination of rigorous analysis and entertaining anecdotes about India's entrepreneurs, Indian firms' strategies and the changing role of government in Indian industry. This analysis shows that there is a strong case for a manufacturing focus so that India can replicate the success stories of Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea and China.