Any discussion of what holds India back focuses on inefficiency and corruption, bureaucracy at all levels, lack of coordination, centralization of power, and non-delegation to municipalities and panchayats, investigation and police systems that are under political control, and the weakened state of the judiciary, to mention only a few.

However, the overseeing of the government and other functions are carried out through bodies created under the Constitution which are autonomous, independent and not expected to report to any government functionary. There are many created by legislation, mostly after 1991. The government appears to have given up some powers to these non-elected bodies. The constitutional bodies include the comptroller and auditor general of India, the Union Public Service Commission, the Finance Commission. ... None of the agencies was a model for the others. Each was created by the concerned ministry. Thus the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India is a recommendatory body. The electricity commissions are still trying to get authority over their forward markets from the Forward Markets Commission. Penal powers for non-compliance are weak in most cases except in the Securities and Exchange Board of India and the Competition Commission of India. Some have appellate tribunals; appeals from others go directly to the high courts.

There is little research on their numbers and their comparative powers and performance. The list below covers most but some might have been missed. On a rough count, these are the following regulatory agencies in place today:

For transportation there are four, including waterways, highways and the Airports Economic Regulatory Authority; energy - 27: the Central Electricity Regulatory Commission, 25 state electricity regulatory commissions, one for each state, and the Petroleum and Natural Gas Regulatory Board; communications: Trai; markets - three: the FMC; the Warehousing Development and Regulatory Authority, and the CCI; finance - four: the Reserve Bank of India, Sebi, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority, and the Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority.

Then there are others. For education - two: the University Grants Commission, and the All India Council for Technical Education; food - one: the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India.

There are over 24 self-regulated bodies by legislative charter. For sports there are the Indian Olympic Association, the All India Tennis Association, the Board of Control for Cricket in India and others.

Other self-regulated bodies include the Medical Council of India, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of India, the Institute of Cost Accountants of India, the Indian Institute of Architects, and the Bar Council of India.

It is generally accepted that the self-regulated institutions are not satisfactory. There are allegations of malfeasance against almost all of them. The professional ones (like the ICAI or the MCI) are not known to take stringent actions against violators. The sports organizations tend to have people running them almost for lifetimes and there are doubts about their financial integrity. Sport has been poorly served by self-regulated bodies.