History & Geography

India 's Indus Valley civilization dates back at least 5,000 years. The region was invaded by Aryan tribes from the northwest in 1500 B.C. and the resultant merger of peoples created the historic Indian culture. The 8 th century saw invasions from Arabs, Turkish incursions came in the 12 th century, and the most recent occupation began with European traders beginning toward the end of the 15 th century.

Britain's political control of India, which was acquired by the 19 th century, came to an end in 1947 .The Indian subcontinent was divided into the current-day India and Pakistan.

The climates of India are as varied as the lands they affect. In the northwestern corner of India lies a desert, which is home to extremely cold temperatures, at the “near-Arctic” level. However, in the southern part of the country, the atmosphere is much more tropical. Yet another area is the northeastern corner of India , which is a hilly region that accumulates about 400 inches of rain each year.

India is the world's seventh largest country with approximately 1.05 billion inhabitants (growing at 1.5% per annum). India is about 1.3 million square miles in size (one-third the size of the U.S. ) and is bordered by China , Nepal , Bhutan , Bangladesh , Pakistan , and Myanmar (otherwise known as Burma ).

The Culture

India has a vast number of languages, religions, and cultures resulting from years of migration from neighboring countries. There are 407 languages, though only 18 are officially recognized. Hindi is the official language while English is the second state language.  English is the legislative and judicial language of the country, an important aspect of education in India is learning to speak English.

Economy

India 's economy includes traditional farming, modern agriculture, crafts, and many other modern industries and support services. Currently the U.S. dollar will translate into approximately 50 Indian rupees.

India 's current economic climate is quite strong. The country is one of the largest economies in the world, and the second most populous. India 's gross domestic product is about $2.5 trillion and is growing at about 5%. India 's industries include textiles, chemicals, food processing, steel, transportation equipment, cement, mining, petroleum, machinery, and software. In 2001, Indian exports were $44.5 billion (with the majority, or 22.8%, going to the U.S. ) and imports were $53.8 billion. So, while 25 percent of the population is poor, economic growth is expected to help balance the distribution of wealth and create significant job growth.

India boasts some of the largest manufacturing sectors and pools of scientists, engineers, technicians, and managers in the world. India is the second-largest English-speaking country in the world, and 200,000 engineers a year emerge from the school system. These engineers are often willing to work for a third or less of what Western engineers demand. Mineral and agricultural resources are abundant, and India 's history of having a market economy infrastructure has allowed a sophisticated financial sector to develop, with more than 9,000 companies listed on 22 stock exchanges.

India 's economic reform process has deregulated the economy and helped stimulate domestic and foreign investments. Economic policies have been simplified to promote investment.

Another interesting aside about India 's economy is that it has had the largest percentage of workforce employed directly in agriculture. In 2000, about 60 percent of the country's workers were involved in agriculture.

India has a large and diversified infrastructure and well-developed research and development, technical and marketing services. The country also has one of the world's most highly educated workforces, as evidenced by its leadership in information technology and software.

Technology & Outsourcing

One area of focus for both India and foreign investors has been on information technology. This sector has been described as the engine of growth of the Indian economy. The Indian software industry is growing at a rate of more than 50 percent a year, and the country appears to be on track to achieve IT exports of U.S. $50 billion by 2008. Approximately 10,000 Internet companies were established in India in 1999, and after years of experiencing a brain-drain effect, Indians are returning home to start and work for technology companies.

India offers automatic approval for foreign equity in software and almost all areas of electronics. Full-ownership by nonresidents is allowed for companies set up exclusively for export. India is the preferred location for software vendors in terms of quality and cost, according to a recent World Bank study. India has lowered import duties on many technology components to 20 percent from 110 percent.

In 2000, venture capitalists invested $1.1 billion in India , 25 percent of which went to Bangalore , the fastest growing city in Asia and India 's version of Silicon Valley .

Research firm Gartner Inc. last year said more American firms are looking at India for outsourcing because of quality work at low cost. India 's IT sector had export sales of almost $8 billion in 2001, 60% of which came from the U.S. That amount was expected to hit $9.6 billion in 2002.