Interesting piece of information for a desi like myself:

Here's the big irony: The root cause of this dreary record is a statute left over from India's socialist past that was actually intended to protect manufacturing jobs. Under the Industrial Disputes Act of 1947, any company with 100 or more workers cannot lay off employees without permission of the local state government. And such approval is rarely granted, says a recent World Bank study. As a result, the typical Indian company has 17% more workers than it needs. Little wonder that multinationals are bypassing India as they stampede to China -- even though wages and the availability of skilled workers are roughly the same in both countries. India's real job growth has been in services, where employers may downsize without state permission. Also exempt are small manufacturers. If India is truly interested in competing for global manufacturing with its neighbor to the east, analysts say, it needs to amend its laws.

This is very important for India' sustaining growth over the longer term. I never understand why India does not extend its competetive advantage in software and services to more products and manufacturing oriented sectors. This would be beneficial to India both in terms of new jobs created as well as enormous foreign capital investments.