When we have 30,000-plus colleges and scores of research labs, why is it that we do not produce a steady stream of Nobel Prize winners? Why aren't we the leaders in creating whole new industries, such as the internet? Why can't we make all the cutting-edge equipment for our defence needs?

Ajit Balakrishnan, author of The Wave Rider, says: "When explosive growth came about in the pharma and IT industries, it triggered off a massive expansion in the higher education, professional service firms, construction and myriad other businesses that served these industries. Very little direct government expenditure was incurred - success was relatively costless. But the "invisible hand" of the government is rarely acknowledged in popular accounts." Read More

Jyothi Shankaran

    Jyothi’s last role was as Senior Editor with the business news channel Bloomberg TV India. He also worked as News Editor at business-standard.com, the online version of the business newspaper Business Standard. Jyothi is a chemical engineer from the Regional Engineering College, Srinagar.