Corruption, red-tapism and colonial-mindset had and still has more part to play than thr reasons you have stated.
It is still true today as Lky said 50ish years ago. The bureaucracy of India is federalized yet overly centralized.
When the city governor must ask for permission to their own money from the federal when yet they are so far away, there is nothing efficient. The powers are yet so powerful yet blind at the same time.