I was reading a news that China has built a 36 km bridge across the sea, linking Shanghai and Ningbo, the world's longest sea crossing structure. The six lane, cable-stayed structure was built at a cost of $1.42 bn, in less than 5 years.
This is only one among the many construction achievements that the great Chinese economic factory keeps churning out with a frightening regularity. The massive 2.3 km long, Three Gorges Dam, completed in 12 years, one year ahead of schedule, is the world's largest hydel power dam, five times larger than the next. The 1118 km Tibetan Railway link connecting Qinghai and Lhasa, completed in six years and well ahead of schedule, is the highest railway link in the world. The 2.4 km Beijing-Kowloon (or Jingjiu) Railway line, one of the largest single railway expansion in the world, was completed in just three years. Now comes news that China is going to build a 100 km road link connecting its Himalayan frontiers, in time for the 2008 Olympics. The list of such impressive Engineering achievements goes on!
The contrast with India could not have been starker. I can't think of a single major construction activity in India over the past 30 years, which can match any of these. The Delhi Metro is undoubtedly a mjor achievement, but surely not an Engineering marvel. The Golden Quadrilateral Project is impressive by Indian standards.
The lag is confined not just to the Government, but extends into the private sector too. There are atleast a hundred high-rise buildings in Shanghai, which are bigger than the biggest in any Indian City! If we are thinking of competing with China, we better know fast where we stand and what we are aspiring to!
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