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The one difference between China and India is that of Democracy. Even though both the nations boast of a corrupt governance system, yet the fact that in India,

by yyyuuu 11y ago

The one difference between China and India is that of Democracy. Even though both the nations boast of a corrupt governance system, yet the fact that in India, a non functioning government is more likely to get kicked out by an increasingly well aware population, makes it a safer bet in the long term I guess. To Quote Thomas Friedman[0]: "If India and China were both highways, the Chinese highway would be a six-lane, perfectly paved road, but with a huge speed bump off in the distance labeled "Political reform: how in the world do we get from Communism to a more open society?" When 1.3 billion people going 80 miles an hour hit a speed bump, one of two things happens: Either the car flies into the air and slams down, and all the parts hold together and it keeps on moving -- or the car flies into the air, slams down and all the wheels fall off. Which it will be with China, I don't know. India, by contrast, is like a highway full of potholes, with no sidewalks and half the streetlamps broken. But off in the distance, the road seems to smooth out, and if it does, this country will be a dynamo. The question is: Is that smoother road in the distance a mirage or the real thing?" [0] http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/08/opinion/bangalore-hot-and-hotter.html http://www.nytimes.com/2005/06/08/opinion/bangalore-hot-and-...

golergka 11y ago
I agree completely. Personally, I'm really optimistic about India and excited to see the progress that they had lately. But at the same time, investor's optimism has a positive feedback right until the crash, so investors will inevitably get _more_ optimistic about India than they should.
anon8418 11y ago
India has a long ways to go before it catches up to China. Have you ever been? The differences in development are pretty stark.... even more so when you compare secondary cities. It's really night and day... not at all even comparable. Many Indian cities still lack decent plumbing. Westerners seem to equate India with China, some even seem to think that India is more developed on account of the english language skills and the growth of their services based economy. Couldn't be further from the truth. Indians I know that have been to both are always surprised by how developed China is. Westerners should travel more. It'll really open your eyes...
- naveen99 11y ago
  I have not been to China, have been to india. Something gives me hope for india: http://forum.hindivichar.com http://forum.hindivichar.com Looks like the Hindi speaking part of the country is finally discovering the internet.
- user_0001 11y ago
  Agreed. Have visited both and driven all over India and across southern / SE China. China is cleaner, more developed, more organised, things work, better roads / facilities and generally less chaotic with less signs of extreme poverty.
- redraga 11y ago
  I've heard this view echoed by friends who've visited China (I'm Indian). A major reason for this difference might be the fact that China opened up its markets in the late 1970's while India's market liberalization happened only in 1991.
dangerpowpow 11y ago
Actually, there are a lot more differences than democracy
rubberstamp 11y ago
Modi, the current prime minister of India got into power with big majority as the coalition govt(UPA coalition) at the was too corrupt. Modi promised big reforms, like Obama when he got first elected, but nothing positive yet for the majority of population. He is some what pro business, but not enough pro business or pro masses to worth any applause. I don't think pro business and pro masses policy is mutually exclusive. So far it looks like his election campaign was just a marketing campaign to get elected. See gas price, crude oil price and rupee/dollar rate over last few years. *sorry about the formatting as this is html doesn't care about white spaces and <pre> tags doesn't work here year 10 11 12 13 14 15 today $ Crude 74 109 90 99 108 61 33 Rs.gas 51 63 71 63 71 66 64 $ vs Rs 46.2 44.7 57.1 59.2 60.2 63.4 66.8 The prices are deregulated. But still even though crude prices has fallen so much, govt keeps retail gas prices costlier by increasing taxes. Taxes form the majority of retail gas price. Taxes vary between states, which is detrimental for business due to the amount of paperwork. Unified tax rate named GST was to be introduced(its not a law yet). The outrageous statement made by someone was that even though GST will charge uniform tax rate somewhere in the range of 14-18% gas prices will be kept out of its purview for the time being. The horror! But things are bright for India in the long term as youth have high education. All most all have college degree. There are press or internet censorship.
- rubberstamp 11y ago
  I meant no press/internet censorship
- option_greek 11y ago
  Keeping gas prices high isn't a bad thing. It helps India not fall into the trap of consumption increasing when prices are low and crying for subsidies when they go back up.
  - rubberstamp 11y ago
    India used to have subsidies on retail gas prices. Now it doesn't since complete price deregulation and so whenever global crude price changes those was supposed to reflect on retail prices. As expected prices increase whenever crude price increases, but whenever crude prices decreases central govt is increasing taxes. Current govt has raised taxes on gas/diesel almost every two weeks and yet again last week. I wrote a script to calculate what the prices should be, factoring in the exchange rate and crude price prevailing at the time and these are the results I got. Month/Year [retail_price vs would_be_price(if taxes were not increased) ] June 2014 (Rs 71.51 vs Rs 71.51) - taxes when he got into power June 2015 (Rs 66.93 vs Rs 39.89) Jan 11, 2016 (Rs 64 vs 36.27) Also the tax on gas prices are really complicated. Oil marketing companies refines and their selling price includes their markup. On that selling price there are a couple of central govt taxes. Now on that price(including the central govt taxes), there are couple of state taxes. Current cost of petrol/gasoline including markup of refineries is around Rs.25 Rest are taxes.

by yyyuuu 11y ago

golergka 11y ago

I agree completely. Personally, I'm really optimistic about India and excited to see the progress that they had lately. But at the same time, investor's optimism has a positive feedback right until the crash, so investors will inevitably get _more_ optimistic about India than they should.

anon8418 11y ago

India has a long ways to go before it catches up to China. Have you ever been? The differences in development are pretty stark.... even more so when you compare secondary cities. It's really night and day... not at all even comparable. Many Indian cities still lack decent plumbing. Westerners seem to equate India with China, some even seem to think that India is more developed on account of the english language skills and the growth of their services based economy. Couldn't be further from the truth. Indians I know that have been to both are always surprised by how developed China is. Westerners should travel more. It'll really open your eyes...

naveen99 11y ago
I have not been to China, have been to india. Something gives me hope for india: http://forum.hindivichar.com http://forum.hindivichar.com Looks like the Hindi speaking part of the country is finally discovering the internet.
user_0001 11y ago
Agreed. Have visited both and driven all over India and across southern / SE China. China is cleaner, more developed, more organised, things work, better roads / facilities and generally less chaotic with less signs of extreme poverty.
redraga 11y ago
I've heard this view echoed by friends who've visited China (I'm Indian). A major reason for this difference might be the fact that China opened up its markets in the late 1970's while India's market liberalization happened only in 1991.

dangerpowpow 11y ago

Actually, there are a lot more differences than democracy

rubberstamp 11y ago

Modi, the current prime minister of India got into power with big majority as the coalition govt(UPA coalition) at the was too corrupt. Modi promised big reforms, like Obama when he got first elected, but nothing positive yet for the majority of population. He is some what pro business, but not enough pro business or pro masses to worth any applause. I don't think pro business and pro masses policy is mutually exclusive. So far it looks like his election campaign was just a marketing campaign to get elected. See gas price, crude oil price and rupee/dollar rate over last few years. *sorry about the formatting as this is html doesn't care about white spaces and <pre> tags doesn't work here year 10 11 12 13 14 15 today $ Crude 74 109 90 99 108 61 33 Rs.gas 51 63 71 63 71 66 64 $ vs Rs 46.2 44.7 57.1 59.2 60.2 63.4 66.8 The prices are deregulated. But still even though crude prices has fallen so much, govt keeps retail gas prices costlier by increasing taxes. Taxes form the majority of retail gas price. Taxes vary between states, which is detrimental for business due to the amount of paperwork. Unified tax rate named GST was to be introduced(its not a law yet). The outrageous statement made by someone was that even though GST will charge uniform tax rate somewhere in the range of 14-18% gas prices will be kept out of its purview for the time being. The horror! But things are bright for India in the long term as youth have high education. All most all have college degree. There are press or internet censorship.

rubberstamp 11y ago
I meant no press/internet censorship
option_greek 11y ago
Keeping gas prices high isn't a bad thing. It helps India not fall into the trap of consumption increasing when prices are low and crying for subsidies when they go back up.
- rubberstamp 11y ago
  India used to have subsidies on retail gas prices. Now it doesn't since complete price deregulation and so whenever global crude price changes those was supposed to reflect on retail prices. As expected prices increase whenever crude price increases, but whenever crude prices decreases central govt is increasing taxes. Current govt has raised taxes on gas/diesel almost every two weeks and yet again last week. I wrote a script to calculate what the prices should be, factoring in the exchange rate and crude price prevailing at the time and these are the results I got. Month/Year [retail_price vs would_be_price(if taxes were not increased) ] June 2014 (Rs 71.51 vs Rs 71.51) - taxes when he got into power June 2015 (Rs 66.93 vs Rs 39.89) Jan 11, 2016 (Rs 64 vs 36.27) Also the tax on gas prices are really complicated. Oil marketing companies refines and their selling price includes their markup. On that selling price there are a couple of central govt taxes. Now on that price(including the central govt taxes), there are couple of state taxes. Current cost of petrol/gasoline including markup of refineries is around Rs.25 Rest are taxes.