Published online by Cambridge University Press: 28 November 2008
The literature on the new international division of labour (NIDL) highlights the rapid growth of the electronics industry in East and Southeast Asia. By contrast, the Indian electronics industry has received less attention because of its traditional emphasis upon import substitution and relatively weak articulation with the prevailing global division of labour. Moreover, the application of the microchip technology in India is still in its early stages, though government interest and support for it suggest a promising future. Nevertheless, in computer software India is emerging as a competitive location for software development and exports.
1 See, for example, Henderson, J. W., ‘The New International Division of Labour and American Semiconductor Production in Southeast Asia’, in Dixon, C. J., Drakakis-Smith, D. and Watts, H. D. (eds), Multinational Corporations and the Third World (London: Croom Helm, 1986), pp. 91–117;Google ScholarRasiah, Rajah, ‘The Semiconductor Industry in Penang: Implications for the New International Division of Labour’, Journal of Contemporay Asia, 18, 1 (1988), pp. 24–46;CrossRefGoogle Scholar and Salih, Kamal, Young, Mei Ling and Rasiah, Rajah, ‘The Changing Face of the Electronics Industry in the Periphery: The Case of Malaysia’, International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, 12, 3 (1988), pp. 375–403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
2 Government of India (hereafter GOI), Department of Electronics (hereafter DOE), Electronics in India and Comparison with Electronics in South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Hong Kong (New Delhi: 11 1982), pp. 4–6Google Scholar; and Joseph, K. J., ‘Growth Performance of Indian Electronics under Liberalisation’, Economic and Political Weekly, XXIV, 33 (19 08 1989), p. 1915.Google Scholar
3 Mukhopadhyay, Swapna, ‘Micro-chip Technology and the Labour Market in India’, Labour and Society, 14 (1989), pp. 127 and 135.Google Scholar
4 Indian Express (Bombay), 26 11 1988.Google Scholar
5 Nalven, Claudia and Tate, Paul, ‘Taking the Offshore Option’, Datamation, 35, 3 (1 02 1989), pp. 72–5 to 72–6.Google Scholar
6 Yourdon, Ed, ‘U.S. Has No Monopoly on Software’, Software Magazine, International Edition (11 1989), p. 44.Google Scholar
7 Castells, Manuel, ‘High Technology and the New International Division of Labour’, Labour and Society, 14 (1989), p. 23.Google Scholar
8 Frobel, Folker, Heinrichs, Jurgen and Kreye, Otto, The New International Division of Labour (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1980), p. 45.Google Scholar
9 Ibid., pp. 322–3, 328–9, 336.
10 Ibid., pp. 24 and 44.
11 Higgot, Richard et al. , ‘Theories of Development and Underdevelopment: Implications for the Study of Southeast Asia’, in Higgot, R. and Robison, R. (eds), Southeast Asia. Essays in the Political Economy of Structural Change (London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1985), pp. 45–6.Google Scholar
12 Rasiah, , ‘The Semiconductor Industry in Penang’, pp. 25–7.Google Scholar
13 Salih, , Young, and Rasiah, , ‘The Changing Face of the Electronics Industry’, pp. 377–9.Google Scholar
14 Henderson, , ‘The New International Division of Labour’, pp. 101–2.Google Scholar
15 Rodan, Garry, ‘The Rise and Fall of Singapore's “Second Industrial Revolution”’ in Robison, Richard, Hewison, Kevin and Higgot, Richard (eds), Southeast Asia in the 1980s. The Politics of Economic Crisis (Sydney: Allen and Unwin, 1987), pp. 158 and 175.Google Scholar
16 Ibid., p. 163.
17 Sivanandan, A., ‘New Circuits of Imperialism’, Race and Class, 30, 4 (1989), p. 4.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
18 Rasiah, , ‘The Semiconductor Industry in Penang’, pp. 30–2Google Scholar; and Mukhopadhyay, , ‘Micro-chip Technology’, p. 129.Google Scholar
19 Ernst, Dieter, ‘Automation and the Worldwide Restructuring of the Electronics Industry: Strategic Implications for Developing Countries’, World Development, 13, 3 (1985), pp. 342–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
20 Henderson, , ‘The New International Division of Labour’, pp. 101–2.Google Scholar
21 Castells, , ‘High Technology’, p. 19Google Scholar; and Ernst, , ‘Automation and Worldwide Restructuring’, pp. 334–5, 345 and 349.Google Scholar
22 Evans, Peter B. and Tigre, Paulo Batos, ‘Going Beyond Clones in Brazil and Korea: A Comparative Analysis of NIC Strategies in the Computer Industry’, World Development, 17, 11 (1989), pp. 1751–2.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
23 Raj, Mohan, ‘India Introduces a People's Computer’, Asia Technology, 12 1989, pp. 32–3.Google Scholar
24 The Hindu (International Edition), 6 July 1991, p. 10.Google Scholar
25 Anchordoguy, Marie, ‘Mastering the Market: Japanese Government Targeting of the Computer Industry’, International Organization, 42, 3 (Summer 1988), pp. 509–43Google Scholar; and Anchordoguy, Marie, ‘How Japan Built a Computer Industry’, Harvard Business Review, 07–08 1990, p. 5.Google Scholar
26 Henderson, , ‘The New International Division of Labour’, pp. 106–7.Google Scholar
27 Castells, , ‘High Technology’, p. 23.Google Scholar
28 Ibid., pp. 21–3.
29 GOI, DOE, Policy on Computer Software Export, Software Development and Training (New Delhi: 11 1986), pp. 1–2.Google Scholar
30 Ibid., pp. 2–14.
31 Caplan, Basil, ‘India's Quickening Pace of Reform’, The Banker, 135, 711 (05 1985), pp. 63–71.Google Scholar For a more analytical and critical approach to liberalization refer to Girdner, Eddie J., ‘Economic Liberalisation in India: The New Electronics Policy’, Asian Survey, XXVII, 11 (11 1987), pp. 1188–1204CrossRefGoogle Scholar; and Kohli, Atul, ‘Politics of Economic Liberalisation in India’, World Development, 17, 3 (03 1989), pp. 305–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
32 Software Development Agency (hereafter SDA), DOE, GOI, Software India '88 Indo-U.S. Conference, pp. 8 and 11.Google Scholar
33 The Indian Post (Bombay), 25 11 1988.Google Scholar
34 Dataquest, Feb. 1989, p. 89.Google Scholar
35 SDA, Software India '88, p. 8Google Scholar; and Kaye, Lincoln, ‘Problem Programme’, Far Eastern Economic Review, 2 03 1989, p. 87.Google Scholar
36 A specialized electronics zone, the Santa Cruz Electronics Export Processing Zone is located at Bombay and accommodates many software companies; other multi-industrial zones are regionally dispersed.Google Scholar
37 Raj, Mohan, ‘India's Computer Network Revolution’, Asia Technology, 03 1990, pp. 22–4.Google Scholar
38 India Today, 15 07 1987, p. 95.Google Scholar
39 Mukhi, Vijay and Chellam, Raju, ‘Software: An Emerging Business’, Supplement, Business India, 22 08.–4 09. 1988, p. 131.Google Scholar
40 SDA, Software India '88, p. 5.Google Scholar
41 Grieco, Joseph M., Between Dependency and Autonomy. India's Experience with the International Computer Industy (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1984), pp. 84–93.Google Scholar
42 Dataquest, Dec. 1988, p. 107.Google Scholar
43 Ibid., p. 106.
44 Ibid., p. 107.
45 Harding, Elizabeth U., ‘After IBM's Exit an Industry Arose’, Software Magazine, International Edition (11. 1989), p. 49.Google Scholar
46 Yourdon, , ‘U.S. Has No Monopoly on Software’, p. 44.Google Scholar
47 DOE, GOI, Annual Report 1988–89, p. 5.Google Scholar The post-1980 growth rate of electronics is lower when calculated at constant prices. See Joseph, , ‘Growth Performance’, p. 1915.Google Scholar
48 DOE, GOI, Annual Report 1989–90, p. 1.Google Scholar
49 Financial Express (New Delhi), 8 03 1989.Google Scholar
50 Dataquest, Dec. 1988, p. 106.Google Scholar
51 Ibid.
52 The Computer Directory of India 1985–86 (New Delhi: Constellate Consultants), p. 477.Google Scholar
53 Debes, Cheryl et al. , ‘India Goes High-Tech’, International Business Week, 10 08 1987, p. 35.Google Scholar
54 Confederation of Engineering Industry (hereafter CEI), Export Strategy Paper—Software (not dated), see Annexure I.Google Scholar
55 Dataquest, July 1991, p. 26.Google Scholar
56 Indian Express (Bombay), 26 11 1988Google Scholar; SDA, Software India '88, p. 5.Google Scholar
57 Asiaweek, 27 April 1990, p. 61.Google Scholar
58 DOE, GOI, Annual Report 1988–89, p. 6.Google Scholar
59 Raj, , ‘India's Computer Network Revolution’, p. 22.Google Scholar
60 Ibid., p. 24.
61 Indian Express (Bombay), 26 11. 1988Google Scholar; Munro, Ross H., ‘The Problems of Success’, Time, 28 05 1979, p. 25.Google Scholar
62 Debes, et al. , ‘India Goes High-Tech’, p. 36.Google Scholar
63 Beauchamp, Marc, ‘Planet Computer’, Forbes, 137, 4 (24 02. 1986), p. 62.Google Scholar
64 Dataquest, Nov. 1989, p. 113.Google Scholar
65 Sridharan, E., ‘World Trends and India's Software Products’, Data quest, 12. 1989, p. 56.Google Scholar
66 DOE, Annual Report 1988–89, p. 51.Google Scholar
67 SDA, Software India '88, pp. 7–8.Google Scholar
68 DOE, Annual Report 1988–89, p. 51.Google Scholar
69 Mukhi, and Chellam, , ‘Software’, p. 137.Google Scholar
70 Ibid.
71 The Hindu Survey of Indian Industry, 1988, p. 153.Google Scholar
72 ELSOFTEX Newsletter, Electronics and Computer Software Export Promotion Council, 2, 1 (01 1989), p. 4.Google Scholar
73 Tom Nash, ‘India's Lead in Offshore Software’, ibid., p. 4.
74 Ibid.
75 Mukhi, and Chellam, , ‘Software’, pp. 129–31.Google Scholar
76 Nalven, and Tate, , ‘Taking the Offshore Option’, pp. 72–6.Google Scholar
77 Mukhi, and Chellam, , ‘Software’, pp. 129–31.Google Scholar
78 ELSOFTEX Newsletter, 01 1989, p. 4Google Scholar; and Mukhi, and Chellam, , ‘Software’, p. 131.Google Scholar
79 Financial Express (New Delhi), 15 03 1989.Google Scholar
80 Grieco, , Between Dependency and Autonomy, pp. 84–93.Google Scholar
81 Nash, , ‘India's Lead in Offshore Software’, pp. 13–14.Google Scholar
82 Nalven, and Tate, , ‘Taking the Offshore Option’, pp. 72–5.Google Scholar
83 Ibid.
84 Nash, , ‘India's Lead in Offshore Software’, p. 14.Google Scholar
85 Ibid.
86 Mukhi, and Chellam, , ‘Software’, p. 135.Google Scholar
87 Kumar, Arun, ‘Software Policy: Where are We Headed?’, Economic and Political Weekly, XXII, 7 (14 02. 1987), p. 292.Google Scholar
88 The Indian Post (Bombay), 28 12. 1988.Google Scholar
89 Kumar, , ‘Software Policy’, p. 293.Google Scholar
90 Mukhi, and Chellam, , ‘Software’, p. 135.Google Scholar
91 Kuruvilla, Abraham, ‘Price of Intellectual Property’, MAIT News, The Newsletter of Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology, 2, 1 (02. 1989), pp. 2–3.Google Scholar
92 Dataquest, Feb. 1989, pp. 50–1.Google Scholar
93 The Indian Post (Bombay), 28 12. 1988.Google Scholar
94 Dataquest, March 1991, p. 91.Google Scholar
95 The Computer Directory of India 1985–96, p. 477.Google Scholar
96 Ghosh, Debashish, ‘Hard Thoughts on Software’, Dataquest, Special Issue 1988, p. 15.Google Scholar
97 Author's discussion with Saurabh Srivastava; at the time vice-president, International Marketing and Operations, Tata Unisys Ltd, 11 March 1989.Google Scholar
98 Polvarapu, Hari C., ‘Product Software: A Packaged Puzzle’, Dataquest, 08. 1989, p. 5.Google Scholar
99 DrKanodia, Lalit, ‘How to Export Rs. 1,500 Crore of Software’, Dataquest, 11. 1989, p. 115.Google Scholar
100 Polvarapu, , ‘Product Software’, p. 64.Google Scholar
101 Tiwari, Alok, ‘No Easy Way’, India Today, 15 10. 1991, p. 70.Google Scholar
102 Mukhi, and Chellam, , ‘Software’, pp. 131 and 135.Google Scholar
103 Dataquest, 07 1989, p. 75Google Scholar; and Dataquest, 07 1991, p. 26.Google Scholar
104 Tiwari, , ‘No Easy Way’, p. 70.Google Scholar
105 Dataquest, 11 1989, p. 7.Google Scholar
106 The domestic software sales were estimated at Rs360 crore in 1990–1991.Google Scholar See Tiwari, , ‘No Easy Way’, p. 71.Google Scholar
107 Bhattacharjee, Arun, ‘Miles Covered Miles to Go’, Telematics India, 03 1989, pp. 41 and 43.Google Scholar
108 Pandya, Satish, ‘Horizon Beckons at Indian Exporters’, Telematics India, 09. 1989, p. 74.Google Scholar
109 Polvarapu, , ‘Product Software’, p. 69.Google Scholar
110 Mukhi, and Chellam, , ‘Software’, p. 144Google Scholar; Dataquest, Special Issue 1988, p. 16.Google Scholar
111 Dataquest, 02. 1989, p. 11Google Scholar; and Polvarapu, , ‘Product Software’, p. 72.Google Scholar
112 Dataquest, 07 1989, p. 23Google Scholar; and Thakurta, Panajoy Guha, ‘Indo-US Trade. Eyeball to Eyeball’, India Today, 30 06 1989, p. 102.Google Scholar
113 Polvarapu, , ‘Product Software’, p. 73.Google Scholar
114 Tiwari, , ‘No Easy Way’, p. 69.Google Scholar
115 For details refer to Lakha, Salim, ‘Growth of Computer Software Industry in India’, Economic and Political Weekly, XXV, 1 (6 01. 1990), p. 53.Google Scholar
116 CEI, Export Strategy Paper, p. 2Google Scholar; Commerce, 26 Oct.–1 Nov. 1988, p. 49.Google Scholar
117 Mukhi, and Chellam, , ‘Software’, p. 135.Google Scholar
118 Ibid.
119 Tata Consultancy Services. A Wide Spectrum of Consultancy Services (not dated); Dataquest, July 1991, p. 5.Google Scholar
120 Dataquest, 07 1991, p. 27.Google Scholar
121 Harding, , ‘After IBM's Exit’, p. 50.Google Scholar
122 Muralidharan, Sukumar, ‘Electronics: Liberalisation Reconsidered’, Economic and Political Weekly, XXIII, 33 (13 08. 1988), p. 1666.Google Scholar
123 Dataquest, 07 1991, p. 26; estimate is based upon figures provided in the Table on ‘Top Software Exporters’, p. 26.Google Scholar
124 Ibid., pp. 26 and 54.
125 Clad, James, ‘Deferred Taxation’, Far Eastern Economic Review, 5 10. 1989, p. 88Google Scholar; and The Hindustan Times (New Delhi), 19 02. 1989.Google Scholar
126 The Indian Express (Bombay), 26 11. 1988.Google Scholar
127 Rayner, Bruce C. P., ‘India: Struggling to Enter the Electronics Age’, Electronics Business, 9 01 1989, p. 130.Google Scholar
128 Henderson, , ‘The New International Division of Labour’, p. 103Google Scholar; Salih, , Young, and Rasiah, , ‘The Changing Face of the Electronics Industry’, pp. 384 and 394Google Scholar; Goldstein, Carl, ‘Government Pushes Singapore into Wafer Fabrication’, Far Eastern Economic Review, 18 08. 1988, pp. 85–6.Google Scholar
129 Ernst, , ‘Automation and Worldwide Restructuring’, pp. 350–1.Google Scholar
130 Yourdon, , ‘U.S. Has No Monopoly on Software’, p. 46.Google Scholar
131 See Sridharan, , ‘World Trends and India's Software Products’, pp. 53–6.Google Scholar