Economics of South Asia (India, Pakistan)

Gatekeeper said:

Super duper India at work.

India’s bullet train faces 5-year delay: High costs, Japan firms not so keen
The Indian Express has learnt that the Railways now expects the project to be commissioned fully by October 2028, instead of the original timeline of December 2023.

FROM LOW participation by Japanese companies to tenders cancelled because of steep rates quoted by bidders, India’s first bullet train project is stuck on multiple fronts — and staring at a delay of around five years.

The Indian Express has learnt that the Railways now expects the project to be commissioned fully by October 2028, instead of the original timeline of December 2023. The revised timeline has been estimated after talks with the Japanese team that is working on the project, sources said.

Rest of the article:

Please, Log in or Register to view URLs content!

Click to expand...

I don't think even Chinese can help the Indians, they're hopeless.

sndef888 said:

What do you all feel about the future economies of south asia? Does India have what it takes to become the next China? And why has Pakistan's growth been so disappointing despite the infrastructure investments?

Click to expand...

I think Vietnam has great prospects. I would have said the same for Thailand if it wasn't for the current political situation there.
India's problems can't be solved without massive political changes to how their society works and how the government does things. Chances for that that are slim. India needs huge infrastructure projects and also, I think, massive efforts to combat poverty which they don't solve because of the caste issue. Instead of seeing poverty as an issue they consider it to be something to be suffered because you were destined to suffer because of karma or some bs like that.
It think it is a bit early to tell with regards to Pakistan. Only recently have some of the projects been finished. I also suspect there is a huge underground economy so it is hard to estimate things like GDP. Pakistan has lots of issues. It is blocked from conducting trade properly in a lot of sectors and it has deep security issues. I think fix the security issues and develop the main population cores and it will straighten itself out. Eventually Pakistan needs to get a hold on the situation on its borders but this is not something easy to do. Perhaps they will have to start out by doing some sort of security cordon around the main population cores closer to the coast and then slowly work from there.
Still I see better prospects for Pakistan than India. Less political baggage.

localizer said:

I don't think even Chinese can help the Indians, they're hopeless.

Click to expand...

They could have. But it would still have taken government help in doing things like getting a hold on the land for these infrastructure projects. That is a highly sensitive issue in a densely populated country like India and even more so because it is a democracy.
They have to pass new laws and make political structures to deal with this.
Instead they are going to use Japanese technology which is heaps more expensive and might never ever get built. It is a miracle they build a high speed railroad in Taiwan a couple decades back because all other major Japanese projects abroad seem to have been a flop.
High speed rail being only one of the infrastructure projects India needs. I think if anything India needs decent speed railroad (think 180km/h+) with modern automatic switching, electric, and no railroad crossings. Good luck.

gelgoog said:

They could have. But it would still have taken government help in doing things like getting a hold on the land for these infrastructure projects. That is a highly sensitive issue in a densely populated country like India and even more so because it is a democracy.
They have to pass new laws and make political structures to deal with this.
Instead they are going to use Japanese technology which is heaps more expensive and might never ever get built. It is a miracle they build a high speed railroad in Taiwan a couple decades back because all other major Japanese projects abroad seem to have been a flop.
High speed rail being only one of the infrastructure projects India needs. I think if anything India needs decent speed railroad (think 180km/h+) with modern automatic switching, electric, and no railroad crossings. Good luck.

Click to expand...

India has lots of options for better government, but they choose the worst for their situation.

They want 1st world social standards with Africa level GDP. The result is they still have the caste system and hunger and sanitation issues.

dont do wat india did

It seems that the Himalayas isn't just trapping the moist in the air to the subcontinent but also the pollutants. Even South India seems to 'recycle' its air. Bad news for industrialization.