Jagadish Bhagwati of Columbia has a ton to say about how India screwed up on trade. Basically there are many trade-unfriendly laws dating back to 60s and 70s which are hard and slow to undo because they have to be done via parliamentary procedures (kinda how Congressional gridlock makes lawmaking slow in the US). Here's a good interview of his with Russ Roberts on Econtalk: http://www.econtalk.org/archives/2013/08/bhagwati_on_ind.htm...

Edit: this is in contrast to China where laws are made by diktats.