Towards a Charged-up Economy

The trinity of Jan Dhan account, Aadhaar and mobile has brought in a new era of financial inclusion; mutual funds, meanwhile, are set to enhance household wealth in the country

- BY A. BALASUBRAMANIAN

The Indian economy has come a long way over the past 75 years. Today, it is the fifth-largest economy in the world and has entered the world’s top five in terms of overall market capitalisation.

India is also the largest democracy. Its large population presents a great opportunity. It acts as a base for domestic consumption-based growth, while also presenting a large demographic dividend. The Covid-19 pandemic has created the need to have alternate supply chains outside of China, with India well-positioned to leverage the windfall gains of the China-plus 1 strategy. The country recently celebrated its 100th Unicorn and the government’s efforts to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem and facilitate the growth of early-stage start-ups must be acknowledged.

The Government of India under PM Narendra Modi has taken some formative steps to empower Bharat. The ‘Make in India’ and PLI schemes are steps towards boosting Indian manufacturing, attracting FDI and creating employment opportunities. India has been at the forefront of technology adoption within the financial system. One example of this is UPI that has revolutionised the financial ecosystem and helped simplify financial transactions. In FY22, UPI processed more than 46 billion transactions amounting to over `84.17 lakh crore. The trinity of Jan Dhan account, Aadhaar and mobile has brought in a new era of financial inclusion.