I thought the question of 'brain drain' was settled in the 90s when it was clear that Indian expats in the US and elsewhere were benefitting India in various ways.

However, the recent boom in the IT industry requires more people than available. The National Association of Software and Service Companies says that each year India needs 140,000 expert workers in technology, but only 100,000 are available because 45,000 go abroad (The Straits Times, Singapore).

The article also talks about the focus on higher education at a cost to basic education.

A couple of interesting quotes from the article:

In May 1950, the first in the series was established in Kharagpur at the site of the Hijli Detention Camp, where the British had incarcerated political prisoners, and named the 'Indian Institute of Technology'.

and

Each Indian Five-Year Plan has typically allocated more money to higher technical education than to primary or secondary education, which may explain why the country's literacy rate is still below 50 per cent.