Speaking of the cheap economy, how does it effect things like consumer electronics? Would you expect to pay $1,500 USD on a MacBook pro, or is stuff like that also cheaper in India?
You are confusing Macbook and Macbook Pro. Macbook Pro is 70k rupees or 1560 USD, which means 360 dollars more than the US. Also at this price, it is more than 1.5 months salary for me, and I earn above average for my level. So purchasing power parity wise, its much more expensive.
not sure about mac, but other laptops are costlier in India. But Dell is definitely cheaper in the US. :( Conversion rate is about 1USD=50Rs. About 5-10% cheaper in the US.
US: http://www.dell.com/us/p/laptops#facets=51795~0~11401827,135...
India: http://www.dell.com/in/p/laptops.aspx?c=in&l=en&s=dh...
We do have our fair share of Chinese duplicate electronics. :)
The rates are higher because most of the original stuff is also made in china. Import duty is pretty bad here.
[50% import taxes on alcohol.]