India is corrupt. I’ve dealt with firms from India for almost two decades now. They are a pain to deal with because they rarely pay on time, in the full amount, or ever in some cases. They also make you ship stuff through their brother’s, or nephews shipping company that you never heard of, and they invent taxes that have be paid that are really just discounts (the taxes won’t be paid)…KEN NELSON
India: corruption will limit their success
People go on about India being the next economic engine. I’m dubious.
India is corrupt. I’ve dealt with firms from India for almost two decades now. They are a pain to deal with because they rarely pay on time, in the full amount, or ever in some cases. They also make you ship stuff through their brother’s, or nephews shipping company that you never heard of, and they invent taxes that have be paid that are really just discounts (the taxes won’t be paid). I tell them, you pay your taxes, I’ll pay mine, until then pay my full invoice. An exception to this pattern is American companies operating in India. They’ve paid up as expected.
Two countries make up most of our deeply in arrears receivables – India & France. We have virtually none seriously late anywhere else. Corruption and a cultural willingness to cheat (by Western standards) explains it in India. In France’s case, a particular corrupt company no longer in business.
I’ve encountered some great minds from India. They were here though. Some entrepreneurs claim India is now a better environment for business than the US – and that could be true. I suspect, however, that it is only true if you have corruption on your side.
I was reminded to write about this by this article about how crappy Indian infrastructure building is:
If they can’t build highly visible homes for athletes during the games or stadiums without roofs that collapse, apartment buildings and homes might also be of similar weak quality.
India has great potential. But tribal/family corruption and their caste system seems a great brake on maxing that potential out.
http://www.kennelson.com/newblog/india-burgeoning-paper-tiger-10296
