New Delhi, June 10 -- Whenever I order something online, I've learnt to provide as much location information as I can at checkout. As with most parts of India, the houses on my street are numbered somewhat at random (mine is 22/1 and my immediate neighbour's is 13), and there is no way anyone relying solely on GPS can find me without help. So they call, I explain, they get lost anyway, and we repeat this dance till somehow, with persistence and a lot of patience, the package finally reaches me.

This is a story that repeats itself millions of times a day across the length and breadth of the country. Our addressing system is so broken that delivery agents have taken to calling even before they set out. Despite India being a top-five econom...