Ageism is a huge thing in India too when it comes to hiring, especially in the IT consultancies. Since they want to ahow cheap rates to their customers, they hire a lot of 0-6 year experienced folks. It becomes harder once you cross 10 years.
I'm too late to edit, but this is also incredibly common with just a difference of a single year in many Asian countries. You'll see it in the Japanese senpai/kouhai relationship, which affects not only classmates, but people who join a company in different years.
You may be right. My experience came from a rather famous and elite team that worked for me in China. It may not be a representative experience anymore.
This just isn't true in China. Just go to New Delhi and Beijing and you will find there is a vast different in IT culture in both countries.