India’s 1st World Infrastructure
Nov 28th, 2007 by craigdos
After a hectic week in Mumbai (Bombay), I relaxed over the weekend in Mahableshwar, which is a hill station about 5 hours east into the mountains. The running was great, and I enjoyed going to all the points with 2000-4000 ft cliffs, which provided for excellent views. I got to Mahableshwar by way of a private bus, which took the route through Pune, and thus used the Bombay-Pune expressway. This expressway was put in 5-6 years ago, and was quite new the last time I was in India. It is privately maintained, and has cut the time between Bombay and Pune down from 5 to 2.5 hours.
After Mahableshwar, I drove down to Pune with some of my family, to stay with my cousins for the week while meeting companies here in town. Pune has grown immensely in the last 10 years, and I was shocked with the progress as we entered town on Sunday night. Someone once told me, back in 2000:
“India is not a 3rd world country, it’s a 1st world country that is run poorly.”
Back then, I completely disregarded the notion. My experience in India was completely shaped by my family vacations. Also, the shock of seeing the corruption, the slums, and the poor people begging at the stop lights really made it hard to convince me that India was anywhere close to a western, 1st world country.
However, after two weeks of traveling around to meet companies, and seeing the progress that the metropolitan areas have made in the last 10 years, I’m much more inclined to agree that India IS a 1st world country. And yes, it IS run poorly. You would think with the huge lower class, and their poor living conditions that maybe India was incapable of providing a livable infrastructure for them. However, that capability is very much there, as evidenced by all the products of private corporations. If you look around Pune or Bombay, the only things that are really run down, are those that are controlled by the government.
Street cleanliness, trash collecting, general order of traffic, road infrastructure, city planning, safe public water supply; all these areas need work. And from what I’m told, the money is there too, it’s just being pocketed by a hierarchy of corrupt government officials. However, 
whenever an area is taken over by a private corporation, it thrives. The Mumbai-Pune expressway is a great example. It costs quite a bit to drive on it (tollways), but it’s maintained, and for the first time in in India, speeds of 120kmph are possible, because the roads are smooth enough to allow it.
Most things that shock me here are either a result of a corrupt government or a poor legal system, that does not keep its people in check. For example, I can’t trust the food from the carts on the street, because there are no repercussions to the owners selling food that would make me sick. On the way to Pune, I saw a guy sitting in the fast lane of the expressway, because his truck had broken down. He put big rocks around it to stop traffic, and had made a fire right there on the highway to stay warm, as he would be there all night. Where was the infrastructure for a tow truck, or a policeman to give him a ticket?
I can’t wait to see where India is 10 years from now. Things are changing fast, and the government will eventually catch up. For now, I’m really enjoying being here, and taking it all in.
Craig, these are some interesting thoughts. I remember going back to the same village in Kenya that I had lived in previously and being amazed at some of the changes. Most of them were small things, and I wouldn’t have realized they were so significant unless I had been there to see how it was before. Hope that makes sense in the abstract. But my main comment is this: What would you say is the end goal of development and how do you define and recognize progress? My work in development is typically more grassroots and people focused, and the things you’re writing about are more macro issues, so I’d be curious to hear your thoughts.