Virtually all governments are extractive. Governments are simply property owners that happen to own an entire country. If you are lucky, you get a stationary b

Virtually all governments are extractive. Governments are simply property owners that happen to own an entire country. If you are lucky, you get a stationary bandit that extracts, but does not want to kill the golden goose. The stationary bandit wants to act as a gardener and grow production. If you are unlucky, you get a roving bandit that will pillage as much as possible in the short term, not caring about long-term growth. It strikes me that the corruption of the Indian government is much more akin to a roving bandit. Each official wants his share, no matter the impact on growth for the nation as a whole.