In 245 it was a downright loser and it was struggling against foreign rivals in the rest. S.P. Gupta, presently on the planning commission, concluded that India s post-1991 export boom was almost solely because of rupee devaluation and an overall jump in world import demand. There was no evidence of greater efficiency in Indian production. Its exports remained poor value for money. Finally, Indian industry still remains aloof from the company to company global networks through which most world trade flows.
Some networks represent the geographical breakup of various manufacturing steps in a factory.
The parts of a Nike shoe come from 13 different countries, while most cars are miniature United Nations under their bonnets. Some networks are retail driven, with large shopping chains like Wal-Mart recruiting hundreds of suppliers around the world to maintain a steady flow of ever changing goods to keep pace with ever fickle consumer tastes. These networks represent the fastest growing and most profitable segments of global trade. They are why world trade today is about subcontracting and subsidiaries, about intermediate products and parts, rather than finished products. For a country to become part of a trade network requires hospitability to foreign investment and lots of get up and go domestic companies.