A decades-old law that many government officials and businessmen claim has helped hamper India's industrial and economic growth may be in danger of being repealed. The law, in which any Indian business with more than 100 employees must receive permission from the government to fire workers, is part of a byzantine set of labor laws established in 1948 to protect workers' rights. Critics charge that the law has inhibited firms' ability to expand by removing any semblance of flexibility in hiring and management practices. As a result, legislators are promoting a new law in India's Parliament which would enable companies to grow without giving the ability to lay off employees to government.
See "Why India Is Rethinking Its Labor Laws", Mehul Srivastava, Business Week, January 13, 2011