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I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

superr.in

161–170 of 456 posts

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#161
post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I am not really sure how you are supposed to stop corruption once it gets rooted in your society. Well, assuming that all people are roughly the same as each other, the answer would be to adopt traditions and systems from countries that aren't corrupt. Attempt the sisyphean task of convincing people that giving power to the middle class is going to lead to a better future. As your comment reveals, the instinct when…

incredibly naive answer from someone who probably haven't lived in a corrupt country and deal with the process on a daily basis.

But the parent comment is right.

The knee jerk reaction against corruption is to centralize power: "X institutions are corrupt, we will give more power to this candidate who demonstrated to be a good person, so he will vanish those institutions and saves us fron corruption".

That's what Bolsonaro did in Brazil. In his campaign, he demonstrated to be a good christian and a person of faith. In Brazil, people strongly associate that with being a good person.

Guess what happened after.

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#162

Earlier quoted context omitted.

in The US recently a commissioner at The FDA got offered a high exec position at Pfizer. Nobody says anything about that...

There's literally an entire political party dedicated to ridiculing Democratic nonsense during the pandemic.

Which party is that? The Republicans?

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#163
post #18

It seems like the problem is that the author has a moral objection to paying bribes in an area where bribery is customary: > Obviously, they are playing “hard to get” to get me to pay some bribe and initiate the process. But after going through all this, I am not going to pay any bribe to anyone. And: > And they openly demanded bribes after waiting for four months. > So the Gram Panchayat NOC is stuck because of non…

We should use different terms for what is currently covered by "bribes":

Money paid illegally to gain an unfair advantage, that will result in local prosecution if discovered and is not the usual practise is a "bribe". No one should pay those.

Money paid illegally to gain normal access/approvals/licenses etc, where it is entirely normal to pay and unlikely to lead to local prosecution is "extortion".

Op isn't really paying a bride, he's being extorted.

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#164
post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What makes me pessimistic is the place bureaucrats still occupy in the social hierarchy. Even today, getting a government job carries tremendous prestige, especially outside urban areas. Becoming an IAS/IPS officer is the most prestigious thing you can do as an individual. Bureaucracy will remain obdurate as long as members of the bureaucracy are feted by society. Ideally, bureaucrats should be invisible. But in Indi…

> Becoming an IAS/IPS officer is the most prestigious thing you can do as an individual. If you are in UP and Bihar. That's not true for the rest of the country.

True in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh as well (have lived there for years).

Between these four states alone, we're talking about 40% of the country's population.

If more than half of your country believes something, it can be said to be the majority opinion.

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#165

India's obsession with paperwork is unceasing and baffling. Everything requires an application, even when everything can be done digitally. You need letters and stamps to get anything done. Case in point: the "company stamps" that are required for everything you do with your business. From getting a debit card to changing the maturity instructions for a corporate deposit, you need to sign your name AND stamp it with…

> Everything requires an application, even when everything can be done digitally. Please also provide two self attested photocopies. (It’s interesting to think about why attestation is required.)

Now they ask for "official Aadhar". Even though its a digital document and Aadhar website explicitly states that every copy of Aadhar is an "official" copy.

If you get a color print and get it laminated, your unofficial Aadhar suddenly becomes "official".

I've had so many arguments with officials about this its unreal.

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#166

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It seems like the problem is that the author has a moral objection to paying bribes Duh?

Exactly. This is what the rest of the world usually says on the first encounter with "tips culture" in the US. As I see it, cultures are different and one thing that is considered an absolute taboo in one culture might be customary in another. Tips in the US are customary yet at the same time they are offensive in Japan. Bribes are killing the economy in my country yet it makes economy moving in India. PS: I personal…

> Exactly. This is what the rest of the world usually says on the first encounter with "tips culture" in the US.

I think my shock was greater when I discovered that lobbying in the US means "literal legal bribery". In a lot of the western world that word it means things "having meetings" and perhaps "organizing PR campaigns". Straight up giving money to politicians is against the law.

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#167
post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ahem. We're talking about a country where a chancellor that pushed for building a gas pipeline from a foreign country went straight to the board of the foreign company running that pipeline after ending his term as chancellor. Corruption is everywhere, it's just on different levels. Usually in more "developed" (I don't like that word) countries you see corruption on the highest levels, and people actually get away wi…

The way you word it makes it sound like "the corruption in developing countries is low-level, whereas in developed countries it's high-level". In reality, the corruption in developing countries is on all levels, whereas it's mostly only happening at a higher level in developing countries.

I wouldn't say so. To get the appropriate doctor to check my brother's broken arm and shoulder sooner than in more than a month (he needed surgery within 3 weeks max to avoid permanent damage) we had to employ personal contacts and gifts. I live in EU and this happened this summer.

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#168
post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, it's still pending ?

Here is Narayana Murthy, founder of Infosys, explaining the early days of Infosys :) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IuqHUA2mQY

Also the father in law of the new UK prime minister...

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#169

Previously on HN: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24106545 (with a few comments from the author as well). The author had added a correction to the post (12th August 2020) stating that this was a mistake, and that the actual procedure was much less cumbersome: https://web.archive.org/web/20200812093618/https://superr.in... > It has been bought to my attention that there was a mistake by an entry level employee. >…

Hey! I'm the author and here's the clarification: That was the official response I got from the district administration so had to post it. Also was being pressured by the government (indirectly) to take it down. So that was all bs. Next update I'll give is when I will have solved the problem.

> Also was being pressured by the government (indirectly) to take it down

Do you mind sharing how?

Re: I tried starting a manufacturing unit in India (2020)

#170

India's obsession with paperwork is unceasing and baffling. Everything requires an application, even when everything can be done digitally. You need letters and stamps to get anything done. Case in point: the "company stamps" that are required for everything you do with your business. From getting a debit card to changing the maturity instructions for a corporate deposit, you need to sign your name AND stamp it with…

In India they optimize for maximum employment. It's the only place I've seen 7 people needed to refill a soda vending machine.

Once I ordered some drinks brought up to my hotel room around 10 in the evening. It took forever - turned out the guy who made the drinks was sent home for the day. So the hotel called him back and had him return just so he could come and make the drinks and bring them to my room. Because that was his job - nobody elses.

This was at a five star hotel in Amritsar.

Our driver slept in the car outside the hotel and was on call 24/7 for our entire stay.

Quite different from western countries for sure.

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