Better Outputs Needed

Many people, include Indians, often compare how our country is doing with China. But China is five times richer, so not all comparisons are fair. However, as Pranay Kotasthane writes, there are also many areas where a comparison between the two is fair, and sadly, India does much worse than China.

 

One, agricultural output:

“Although India has a third more land under cultivation than China, it harvests only a third as much produce by value.”

Two, medical colleges:

“India has the highest number of medical colleges globally, yet China produces 3.5 times the doctors India produces yearly.”

(I had gone into the reasons behind this in an earlier blog).

Three, vaccines:

“India is the world’s largest vaccine maker. Yet China exported five times the number of COVID-19 vaccines India could export.”

Four, school teacher salaries:

“Indian teachers in government schools are much better paid than in China, yet China beats India in student learning outcomes.”

Five, the diaspora. Indian diaspora send back the most remittances. But:

“Chinese immigrant researchers are likelier to co-author papers with colleagues back home than Indians. These co-authorship networks have helped Chinese universities climb the scientific ladder faster.”

Six, US approved pharma plants:

“India has the largest number of FDA-approved plants outside the US. Yet, China’s pharmaceutical industry exports nearly three times more by value than its Indian counterpart.”

 

While this list makes for depressive reading, Kotasthane says there is a silver lining in it:

“(The list is) the proverbial low-hanging fruit; the problem in such domains isn’t chronic resource scarcity but about converting these inputs into outputs and outcomes.”

Will we turn things around in such areas? One can only hope.