, Columnist
Could Backoffice 3.0 Be India's Third Way?
Multinationals are showing the country how to stay ahead of the AI challenge — and catch up to rival China.
Connective tissue.
Photographer: Aparna Jayakumar/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Should India double down on software services, where it has proven prowess and strong outsourcing companies? Or must it follow the successful East Asian model and bet big on factory work to generate mass employment? Maybe there is a third way.
The manufacturing versus services debate has taken a fresh urgency. For the first time, some of the iPhones that customers bought on the launch date of the new model last month were made in the most-populous nation. To policymakers, it vindicates the $24 billion that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s administration is spending over five years to promote India as the next China.