If You Build It, Can They Come? Solving India's Infrastructure Problem
All over India, newly built concrete overpasses coexist with lunar-surface dirt paths, rickety bridges crumble under the onslaught of monsoon rains, and daily power cuts hardly raise an eyebrow. Infrastructure projects -- highways, ports, dams, power plants, water supplies -- are essential for any modern nation to run effectively. So what's standing in India's way? In a recent discussion at the Wharton India Economic Forum in Philadelphia, panelists from both government and private enterprise explained the challenges and described creative ways to get the job done.

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India's Entertainment Industry Faces a 'C' Change: Consolidation, Corporatization and Convergence
Technology and talent have driven impressive growth in India's entertainment and media industry in recent years. While that growth has tapered off, many are predicting a period of consolidation as the industry waits for its second wind. But professionals who attended the recent FICCI Frames conference in Mumbai and other experts say that the industry is showing all the signs of growing up: corporatization has occurred to some degree in all segments, new cross-media alliances are forming, and private equity funds and other investors are entering the fray. Meanwhile, a lack of ability to bring new innovations to market, rampant piracy and other issues threaten to hold up the action.

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Ravi Kuchimanchi: Tapping the Potential of Non-Resident Indians to Help the Rural Poor
In the 2004 film Swades (Homeland), the hero is an expat engineer who leaves a cushy job in the U.S. and moves to a village in India. Moved by the plight of the people, he organizes the residents and helps them hook a makeshift generator to a nearby waterfall, bringing electricity to the village for the first time. The movie was based loosely on the life and experience of Ravi Kuchimanchi, founder of the Association for India's Development (AID), who worked with grass roots organizations to electrify 12 hamlets in Bilgaon, a tribal village. AID has evolved since its 1991 launch into a non-profit organization with more than 50 chapters that work on issues such as renewable energy and other forms of grassroots development. Kuchimanchi spoke with India Knowledge@Wharton during the recent Wharton India Economic Forum in Philadelphia.

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India's Airline Industry Consolidates, but Change Is Still in the Air
Economic reality is reshaping India's airline industry. The high cost of fuel has led low-cost carriers like Air Deccan and Sahara to merge with larger airlines, while a loss of market share and other problems have precipitated a high-profile deal to combine Indian Airlines with Air India. According to observers, the turbulence is likely to continue, as new carriers enter the fray to fill the gap left by consolidation. And for the newly merged entities, the struggle has only begun, as the usual issues that accompany post-merger integration -- along with some that are particular to the airline industry -- come into play.

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Investing in India: Where Is the Smart Money Going Now?
Investors are flocking to India, and last year net foreign institutional investment inflows exceeded $17 billion. While initially, international investors focused on technology, today they are investing in everything from real estate to infrastructure. How are companies getting into these opportunities, and how are the deals changing over time? A panel discussion at the recent Wharton India Economic Forum in Philadelphia explored the landscape and gave the audience a taste of what is to come.

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Medical Industry Diagnosis: Triage for Health Care and New Vision for Life Sciences
India's medical industry is growing at a healthy rate, but infrastructure problems and a lack of trained professionals threaten to stymie the development of a world-class health care system. Meanwhile, cost and competitive pressures on Big Pharma and India's strengths as a low-cost location present huge opportunities for life sciences companies provided they can move away from their current service mentality and embrace risk to become innovators. These are among the conclusions of two recent conference panels, one at Wharton and the other at Harvard University, which explored the state of India's health care system.

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