On the Road

Today our group drove by bus from Delhi to Agra, the home of the Taj Mahal, which is named one of the Seven Wonders of the World. The drive took over 4 hours on a busy road with moving commerce, such as trucks carrying bananas or goods to be sold.

There is much to see outside of Delhi. Our route took us past elephants, camels or donkeys pulling carts, cows and bulls in the streets, and two men charming cobras with their flutes. In the midst of all this were people riding bicycles or motorcycles, cars weaving in and out of traffic and multitudes of people milling along the roadway at small roadside shops.

Yesterday, I was able to meet with members of parliament and learn more about India’s democratic structure.
• The lower house members are elected to terms of five years and members have a 65% re-election rate
• 10 percent of members are women
• Like the United States, India has a federalist system with strong state governments
• Voter turnout is about 55%, although voter participation is two to three times higher by people in the lowest economic segments
• The combined number of 3.2 million elected officials from all levels of government in India is more than the combined total of all elected representatives of all other countries in the world.

Higher Education
Indians have a high personal savings rate of about 34% (in the U.S. it has even been a negative number!), but most use this savings to pay for education, such as studying abroad. The 80,000 students currently studying in the United States makes India number one in our foreign student population – China is second.

There is a current need to build 1500 new universities if they were to provide a college education for those students showing the ability to attend. This is another reason why my initiative establishing an India Center at the University of Minnesota presents opportunity for both Minnesota and India.

Energy
There are many similarities and differences on the energy front for China and India.

Unlike China, India does not have coal natural resources so it must import vast amounts to create electricity. Today India imports 100 million tons, but by 2030 the number is expected to be 1 billion tons. This presents a real environmental concern and is another reason why India is looking to wind and nuclear energy supplies. Interestingly, the Indian company XXX is currently working closely with Minnesota in developing wind energy in Southwest Minnesota.

Also, unlike China, only 55 percent of energy needs are for commercial economic development purposes. And, due to inefficiencies in transmission lines and theft anywhere between 18% and 50% in some cities of energy generation is lost in transmission transfer.

Like China, ranks high as a world consumer of energy and the trend is moving them higher, as currently 57% of the Indian rural population doesn’t even have access to electricity yet.

Well, of course the Taj Mahal, built by 20,000 laborers in the 1600’s is beautiful. I also see great beauty and opportunity at every turn as I learn more about this country.