R I IDING THE NDIAN T IGER UNDERSTANDING INDIA—THE WORLD’S FASTEST GROWING MARKET William Nobrega Ashish Sinha John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ffffiirrss..iinndddd iiiiii 1111//2211//0077 88::1155::3322 PPMM ffffiirrss..iinndddd iiii 1111//2211//0077 88::1155::3311 PPMM R I T IDING THE NDIAN IGER ffffiirrss..iinndddd ii 1111//2211//0077 88::1155::3311 PPMM ffffiirrss..iinndddd iiii 1111//2211//0077 88::1155::3311 PPMM R I IDING THE NDIAN T IGER UNDERSTANDING INDIA—THE WORLD’S FASTEST GROWING MARKET William Nobrega Ashish Sinha John Wiley & Sons, Inc. ffffiirrss..iinndddd iiiiii 1111//2211//0077 88::1155::3322 PPMM Copyright © 2008 by William Nobrega and Ashish Sinha. All rights reserved. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc., Hoboken, New Jersey. Published simultaneously in Canada. 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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Nobrega, William, 1961- Riding the Indian tiger: understanding India—the world’s fastest growing market / William Nobrega, Ashish Sinha. p. cm. ISBN 978-0-470-18327-4 (cloth) 1. India—Economic policy—1991- 2. Capital market—India. 3. Investments, Foreign— India. I. Sinha, Ashish, 1970- II. Title. HC435.3.N67 2008 330.954’053—dc22 2007033360 Printed in the United States of America. 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 ffffiirrss..iinndddd iivv 1111//2211//0077 88::1155::3322 PPMM C O N T E N T S PREFACE vii INTRODUCTION: THE HISTORY OF INDIA IN EIGHT PAGES ix CHAPTER 1 THE LARGEST MARKET THE WORLD HAS EVER SEEN 3 CHAPTER 2 BULLS AND BEARS IN MUMBAI: INDIA’S FINANCIAL MARKETS 29 CHAPTER 3 WHY INDIA WILL OUTPERFORM CHINA 65 CHAPTER 4 THE ROAD LESS TRAVELED: THE GOLD THAT LIES UNDER INDIA’S CRUMBLING INFRASTRUCTURE 93 CHAPTER 5 THE NEXT WAVE: WHAT WILL DRIVE INDIA’S GROWTH AFTER INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND OUTSOURCING 117 CHAPTER 6 LOOK BEFORE YOU LEAP 173 CHAPTER 7 UNDERSTANDING THE INDIAN BUSINESS CULTURE 197 CONCLUSION: THE TIGER BEGINS TO ROAR 231 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 239 INDEX 241 v ffttoocc..iinndddd vv 1111//2211//0077 88::3333::0088 PPMM ffttoocc..iinndddd vvii 1111//2211//0077 88::3333::0099 PPMM P R E FA C E T his book is about the new India, not the old. Economically, India has not mattered much for the past 40 years or so. It has long been a travel destination, but from a business perspective, who cares if you have a billion customers with no money to spend! But now that the world has witnessed the economic rise of China and sees India on a similar path, and Indian entrepreneurs are making bold moves on the global stage, the “ new India ” is on everyone ’ s radar. T he international media and business community are beginning to take notice, but unfortunately, much that has been written recent- ly has either focused on political issues, such as Hindu nationalism, or social issues, like rural poverty, or the sorry state of the Indian infrastructure. What the media has overlooked is the important ways the infrastructure is improving and what that means for business. What about India’ s capital markets and a rising middle class? How will those factors impact business opportunities? And what about India ’ s democratic institutions, which we believe will give the coun- try a long - term advantage over China ’ s authoritarian model? We wrote this book to give businesspeople and other interested readers an exciting look at “ n ew India.” If you are a business execu- tive, investment banker, investor, or entrepreneur, and you think that the third largest economy in the world might translate into opportu- nity, then you should read this book. If you are a politician, student, or academic, and you think that the world’ s largest democracy might be worth taking a closer look at, then you should read this book. If you are a citizen of the planet Earth and you are curious to know how the world’ s fastest- g rowing market and second most populous nation will impact your life — this book is for you. vii ffllaasstt..iinndddd vviiii 1111//2211//0077 88::3333::5500 PPMM ffllaasstt..iinndddd vviiiiii 1111//2211//0077 88::3333::5500 PPMM