Incredible India, the journey concludes

After a quick ten day introduction to the way this amazing country works we leave today for Qatar. India has exposed us to a raft of feelings and emotions: hunger, heat, noise, worry, excitement, despair, relief, frustration, boredom,beauty, passion, tranquility and above all awe.

Some basic stats on the country;

80% famers own less than 1.7ha
India is 2.4% of the global land mass, but has 16% of the world population
Literacy is rated at 74% of the population, globally 84% of the pop.
300 million people (28%) of the pop. live below the poverty line and eat less than 1800 calories/day.
FYI: reading Lance Armstrong bio, he burns 1000 calories and hour when training for a road race.



The potential of the country is so difficult to determine, once foreign investment policy is better understood and western businesses realise the opportunity of this country, India will explode and the feeding the globe will be so much easier.

The welcome smile and affection of our hosts will be one of the strongest memories that will last with me for ever. We have been welcomed into dirt floored, single roomed houses, slum cottages with no bathroom or running water or privacy and then into modern two storied dwellings very similar to Australia.



Viticulture is stagnant with low government policy interest and low foreign and state monetary investment, however this may well change with a rising middle case who have an growing appetite for anything western. Austrade consider value chain logistics, infrastructure and technological knowledge transfer to be key opportunities for us to consider.



For Australians following the blog, in the words of Molly Meldrum 'do your self a favour' experience India!
To our hosts thank you and I only hope we can show you the same hospitality and wonders if you visit Australia.

Location:Delhi