India, Sept. 28 -- Labourers in shirts and pants are kneeling on the market's dusty floor, fitting a paving tile into place. Nearby, two women labourers with their heads covered by their sari pallus are working among similar tiles and pans of mortar, while barefoot children sit at the edge of a newly paved stretch. Now, a woman in a crisp outfit walks past the labourers, sunglasses on her head, a white Satya Paul shopping bag on one arm.

Were this scene of labourers paving a path for well-heeled shoppers in a novel, the setting might have seemed too pointed. This is the front lane in Khan Market, one of India's most expensive shopping places. The New Delhi Municipal Council is laying new paving along the stretch, says a shop owner.

Khan...