Government policies, efficiency and competitiveness: The case of dry ports in India

Rapid economic growth in India demanded quality logistical services, implying that dry ports, often characterized by inefficiency, would play pivotal roles. While the Indian government attempted to address this problem by introducing foreign private participation, at the same time, it upheld its social-democratic tradition where local operators and interests should not be edged out by external competition. Hence, it is the endeavour of this paper to investigate how the Indian government resolved these contradictory issues and provided insight on how political influences could shape an industry's competitive structure, especially in developing economies.