Understanding India - 2

Quick follow-up to my previous post about understanding India in various aspects. I came through this piece of general information about general facts, India's economic profile and advantages.

General Facts

	Land Area : 3.29 million square kilometers
	Capital : New Delhi
	Government : Democratic, Parliamentary
	Political System : The 1950 Constitution provides for a parliamentary system of
	Government with a bicameral parliament and three branches: the executive, legislative,
	and judiciary. Federal structure with elected Governments in States and in Union Territories
	Exports: ready-made garments, leather goods, gems and jewellery and agricultural products.
	However, cashew nuts, transport equipment, software, electronic goods and
	manufactured metals constitute the most rapidly growing export segments
	Population : 1,027 million (2001)
	Population Growth Rate : 2.14 percent
	Population Density : 324 persons/sq. km
	Life Expectancy : 62 years, male; 64 years, female
	Literacy Rate : 65.38 percent
	Languages Spoken : India is a multilingual society with 18 principal languages
	Hindi is the language of a large percentage of people (38 percent), while English
	is the preferred business language
	Major Religion : Majority are Hindus, though a significant number are Muslims, Christians
	Sikhs, Buddhists, etc
	International airports : New Delhi, Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata, Thiruvananthapuram,
	Kochi, Hyderabad and Bangalore.
	Major Ports of Entry : Calcutta, Chennai, Kandla, Kochi, Mormugao, Mumbai
	New Mangalore, Paradip, Tuticorin and Vishakapatnam.
	Climate : Mainly tropical with temperatures ranging from 10° 40°C in most parts
	of the country
	Time Zone : GMT +5 1/2 hours
	Currency Unit : Indian Rupee

Economic Profile

	GDP at current prices : Rs 19,895 billion (2000-01)
	Average Real GDP Growth : 5.2 percent (2000-01)
	Inflation Rate measured by WPI : 6.6 percent (1999-2000)
	Exchange Rate : Rs 45.51 /US$ (April-January, 2001)
	Exports : US$ 44.1 billion (2000-2001)
	Principal Exports : Traditional exports include cotton yarn and textiles,
	ready-made garments, leather goods, gems and jewellery and agricultural products.
	However, cashew nuts, transport equipment, software, electronic goods and
	manufactured metals constitute the most rapidly growing export segments
	Principal Markets for export : USA, Canada, UK, Germany, Japan and Belgium in
	the OECD, Iran, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia in the OPEC, Chile, Argentina, Brazil and
	Mexico in the Latin American region and China, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and
	Sri Lanka in the Asian region
	Imports : US$ 49.8 billion (2000-2001)
	Principal imports : Capital goods, petroleum, oil and lubricants, precious and
	semi-precious stones, chemicals, edible oils and fertilizers
	Principal Markets for import : USA, UK, Japan, Germany in the OECD, Iran, Kuwait
	and Saudi Arabia in the OPEC, and Brazil, Chile, Egypt, Ghana, South Africa
	from the Latin American and African regions, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia
	and Thailand in the Asian region

Competitive Advantages

	Low-cost, high quality
	2nd largest English speaking manpower Resource in the world
	Investment friendly & Supportive Government policies
	Adaptability to new technologies
	Geographical Advantage
	IPR laws in place
	World class infrastructure in line with the developed
	countries for Power, Transport and Data Communication
	World's 3rd largest brain bank - Availability of around
	2.5 million technical professionals

	Stable democratic environment in over 50 years of independence
	Large market size with a middle class population of 250-350 million with
	increasing purchasing power reflected by remarkable increase in purchase of
	consumer durables in recent years
	Access to regional international markets through membership of regional integration
	frameworks such as SAARC
	Foreign investment is welcome in almost all sectors barring those of strategic concern like
	defense and atomic energy. Large and diversified infrastructure spread across the country
	Thrust on technology, innovation and knowledge base
	Large manufacturing capability, spanning almost all area of manufacturing activities
	Well developed R&D infrastructure and technical and marketing services
	Large resources of untapped natural wealth
	Promising future in the burgeoning information technology industry
	Developed banking system, commercial banking network of over 63,000 branches,
	supported by a number of national and state level financial institutions
	Developing as one of the largest cost-competitive technical workforce nations
	Conducive foreign investment environment that provides freedom of entry, investment,
	location, choice of technology, import and export
	Acceleration of the privatization process and restructuring of public enterprises
	Current account convertibility, capital account convertibility for foreign investors and
	progressive implementation for Indian residents
	Established and independent judiciary with a hierarchy of courts
	Special investment and tax incentives given for exports in certain sectors such as
	power, electronics, telecom, software, oil & Gas and research and development activities
	Legal protection for Intellectual Property Rights
	Import regime in conformity with WTO commitments - removal of remaining quantitative
	restrictions on imports of goods into India barring certain items on grounds
	of national security, defense and health

Source: STPI Bangalore
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