Bhabani Shankar Prasad Mishra

Keshab Das

Madhabananda Das

This book examines the nature, extent and implications of rapid strides digitalization has made in India since the turn of the millennium. These have been examined not merely in the sphere of information and communication technology (ICT) but its multifarious applications spreading across almost all aspects of production, services and institutions which have profound repercussions for the transformation of the society and economy at the micro, meso and macro levels. With contributions from both ICT scholars and social scientists, this book presents diverse scenarios and unravels challenges faced in the process of technical applications, access by the users of these disruptive technologies (automation, e-commerce, big data analytics & algorithms, artificial intelligence, cloud computing, etc.) which, unlike heavy machines (embodied technology), mostly defy physical space, pace of mobility and inoperability between technologies. Chapters in this volume address challenges and possibilities in establishing and operating intricate engineering infrastructure, technical and societal constraints encountered in broad-basing digitalization across layers of educational and social skills conducive to difficult geographies. Issues dealt within this book include farming, healthcare, education, food processing, e-commerce, labour, rural community development, open source data and information democracy. The chapters also reflect upon implications on local economy and society, of the very global nature of these seamless technologies where inter-operability remains the quintessential advantage of digitalization whether promoted or spearheaded through the state, private sector or global capital. The book critiques policy inadequacies and suggests plausible policy approaches to reduce the adverse impacts of fast digitalization and broad-base potential benefits across space and levels of socio-economic development of regions and society. This book would be of interest to scholars, practitioners, technocrats, industry analysts, policy makers and civil society agencies.

Applications, Access and Aberrations

The Digitalization Conundrum in India

Jaya Prakash Pradhan

This book investigates the less-explored dimensions of how industries in different Indian subnational spaces or states have responded to the growing phenomenon of internationalization. What factors have influenced firms participating in global business? Have state (both central and provincial) policies acted as catalyst for local firms? Not only does this study delve into these issues; it also painstakingly develops a comprehensive database that remains unique in the absence of reliable official statistics on this subject to date. Efforts have been made to establish a reasonably consistent dataset for the period 1990-2008 derived from the CMIE-PROWESS database. Care has been taken to condense the data and classify it by sector, location, size and ownership. The study delineates export patterns by firm and state and explores factors influencing export decisions according to sector, size and location. A further interesting aspect is the book’s critical examination of industrial and trade promotion policies at the state/regional level that might have contributed to or hindered exporting by firms. The states considered for detailed policy discussions are highly diverse and include Gujarat, Odisha and Karnataka. To address the glaring absence of literature on the role of subnational factors in enterprises’ export performance, a preliminary state-by-state analysis of the spatial determinants of firms’ export activities is also provided.

Determinants and Policy Imperatives

Manufacturing Exports from Indian States

The changes following more than two decades of economic reforms and globalization of the Indian economy – at state, corporate sector, and consumer level – raise interesting questions on the ways in which the stakeholders will continue to engage on the world stage, politically, socially and economically. One key feature of global trade over this period has been the growing importance of not only product standards but, importantly, labor, environmental, food safety and social standards. Being essentially a non-tariff barrier,standards have often become critical to market access and essential to sustained competitiveness. This has a clear impact on the manner in which both global and Indian business is conducted now and in the future. It also underlines the need for a new area of enquiry that addresses the following questions: How are the Indian public and private actors – the state, domestic firms, local consumers and society – influencing and being influenced by such standards? Do standards really matter in an overwhelmingly informal production sphere, with consumers deeply segmented on the basis of a highly skewed distribution of income and with the rural population becoming further marginalized? We have limited knowledge about the challenges faced and strategies pursued by these key domestic actors, both public and private. How have they been able to drive these processes and what are their implications for larger concerns with inequalities and the conditions of the poor? How does the omnipresent informality influence compliance, encourage multiple standards and affect the chances of addressing institutional dysfunctionality? What role does regulation play? These are some of the issues dealt with in the book, which has chapters focusing on aspects of specific sectors such as microfinance, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, tea trading, the role of the state and changing consumer influence. We have limited knowledge about the challenges faced and strategies pursued by these key domestic actors, both public and private. How have been they able to drive these processes and what are the consequences of these changes for the Indian economy, other emergent economies and for the rest of the developing world? In particular, what are their implications for the wider Indian society, especially on concerns with informality, inequalities and the conditions of the poor? How does informality in its omnipresent form influence compliance, encourage multiple standards and chances of addressing institutional dysfunctionality? What role does regulation play? These are some of the issues dealt within the book wherein chapters focus on aspects of specific sectors, trading, role of the state and changing influence of the consumer.

Keshab Das

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