10 years a go if you flew into China via Shanghai and India via Bombay (Mumbai now), there was no difference in what you saw. Huge slums, dirty streets, chaotic traffic, noise way above the human decibel level and unbelievable poverty. Today 10 years later, if you make another trip to these two cities, you will be amazed to see both the cities. The only difference will be that you will be shocked to see the progress Shanghai has made, and you would almost have a 'de ja vu' when you see Mumbai.
In Shanghai, tall skyscrapers have replaced the huge slums, streets are clean, traffic is no where near chaotic and there are visibly less signs of poverty. The only simple translation one can make of Shanghai over the 10 years is progress. On the other hand, Shanghai's counterpart has hardly seen any progress. Mumbai's only progress can be seen on Dalal Street, which reflects the ever booming economy of the city. The slums are bigger than ever, the traffic is anything but controllable, never ending construction making one lane roads out of four lanes, and one can see signs of poverty on every block. This comparison is just a tip of the iceberg. These are the visible signs of progress in China. The progress of Shanghai can easily be extrapolated to thousands of cities in China that are following the footsteps of Shanghai.
This is a mere reflection of the progress the two countries - China and India have made over the years. There is a lot of speculation of who will be the next superpower and who will be the next number one. China will without a doubt be the new number one by 2020 with India a distant 4th or 5th. It is what China has done at the grass root level and India hasn't that will make the difference in 2020.
One example - China has realized that the only reason India is getting more high tech jobs is because of the fact that English is more widely spoken in India. There is no shortage of brain power. To offset the difference by 2020, China introduced a policy in 2002, that made English a mandatory language in school curriculum's. With cheaper labor and almost equal brain power, the high tech jobs will start shifting to China and one of India's major source of foreign jobs will perish slowly.
Next, China is making serious headway in rebuilding their infrastructure. China allocates a huge percent of their budget towards modernizing their infrastructure understanding the need to do so to compete at a global level. Corruption is as prevalent in China as in India, but there are certain ethics that guide Chinese politicians unlike those in India. It is country before self for politicians in China, and self before country for their counterparts in India.
India does not only face challenges from China, but also from booming economies like Brazil, Russia and Indonesia. If India does not start implementing changes at the grass root level, even a distant 4th in 2020 will be a topic of the past. It remains to be seen weather the coming years will belong to the Dragon or to the Elephant?
