That is a very simplistic and uninformed view. He does not compare the cost of electronics, gas, automobiles or even other exotic foods. Each of these cost more in India than they do in USA. One has to consider how much of the costs of the mission are actually spent on paying salaries compared to purchasing & building the equipment needed for the mission.

The actual answer may have something to do with the fact that India did not spend a lot of money on R&D specifically for the Mars mission. They are leveraging existing technologies and knowledge from earlier missions (including some from NASA and ESA).

India does/did a lot of ground work on all its own.

The fact is this concept called 'frugal engineering' or commonly called in Hindi as 'Jugaad'. Its a little unfair to call is 'frugal engineering', this is more on the lines of 'Do what it takes, with whatever little you have, to go where ever you want to go'.

Its really more like a cultural thing here. After centuries of invasions, foreign rule and desperation the idea is to see some success at any cost. You try to beat the odds any way you can.

Sorry about the miscommunication. I meant to say India reused a lot of its own technology as well as what is available from other resources. You are right that the culture at ISRO is very utilitarian. But please do not try to generalize it for India in general. There are a lot of wasted resources in other organizations.