Future beyond software: How can India bring next wave of lucrative jobs?

In the early 2000s, Alok Nanda’s new colleagues called him the “bumper guy.”

Nanda’s job at General Electric Co. back then was putting some plastic between the bumper and the beam of a Suzuki Swift. The plastics division, which traced its history to the early days of synthetic rubber, had hired the young engineer from the state-run Defense Research & Development Organization, placed him at one of GE’s new facilities on the outskirts of Bengaluru, and asked him to find a cost-efficient way to reduce the impact on pedestrians in auto accidents.