No. If you prefer independent travel there is no reason why you shouldn't travel independently in India. You could use a local company to provide a car and driver and hotel reservations, or use the extensive train system and make your own reservations. Plenty of TRs here if you want recommendations for agencies, and some (e.g. mine) from people doing it themselves.

We found it very, very helpful having our own car+driver when travelling across Rajasthan.

Hiring a car & driver is a great way to get around and be independent from a tour group.

I mentioned to one agent who arranges such travel that I wanted to take a train from Agra to Delhi, just so that I could experience India Rail. He recommended that I only take the Shatabdi Express but I didn't like the schedule. When I suggested a different train (tier 3, IIRC) he said that those trains were dirty and I wouldn't like it. When I mentioned stopping at Pushkar on the way from Jaipur to Udaipur, he basically said that the only time to go to Pushkar was during a famous Pushkar festival (a camelfest, I think).

I had a different experience with TGS Tours and hired them. Not only did he book the train I wanted but he suggested another opportunity for rail travel.

That opportunity was for me to take a train from Jaipur to Ajmer Junction and drive from there to Udaipur. The car that I had hired the previous days would leave earlier and meet me at Ajmer, then drive on to Udaipur with a stop at Pushkar.

Nikhil, the owner of TGS Tours, arranged for another car to take me from my hotel to the Jaipur train station. This driver escorted me through the station and helped me find my seat. This was a great service at 6AM. The other driver expected to meet me outside Ajmer station but Nikhil changed that so that the driver met me at the platform as soon as I stepped off the railcar.

Other than that hand-holding and care to make sure I could find the car after visiting a stop, the itinerary was pretty much up to me. The drivers were professional. They suggested some shopping stops (maybe 3 times over a week) they didn't press it when I said no.

Nikhil was very responsive to questions. He called daily to talk to the driver and me. We exchanged at least 34 e-mails while working out the arrangements.

we used castle and king twice for our trips in india.. they are a delhi that arranges group and private visits.. we had one of their cars and drivers and everything went perfectly... i think a group trip would shield you from the real indian experiences