Indeed, India is a country that lives with one foot in the future and one foot in the past. India could rival the United States in its agricultural production, but archaic laws obstruct the creation of farms larger than 18 acres. Foreign companies are frightened away by prohibitive import tariffs, endless red tape, and a government that often makes promises and then backtracks. Enron has spent most of its time in court fighting the government, trying to get paid. China attracts that much in less than six months.
Protectionism is the lingering specter of colonialism, a menace that still haunts the country.
Fearing the influence of foreigners, many of India's rulers since the British left in 1947 have established a practice of strict self-reliance, known as swadeshi. The government has subsidized nearly every industry in India. The current prime minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and his finance ministers have talked a lot about privatization. When you're looking to raise capital to deal with a budget deficit, privatization makes good sense. So far, however, only one government-owned company in all of India has actually gone private a bakery.