Beyond The Fifth Place

India’s economic future is bright, both in terms of growth and equity, argues the I&B Minister

It may be coincidental but was nonetheless of profound satisfaction for every Indian that India surpassed Britain to emerge as the world’s fifth largest economy in the 75th year of its Independence. Economists who have been relentlessly critiquing the Indian economy are stumped that they failed to foresee Britain’s, and indeed much of the West’s, woes. The days of abundance are truly over for them. And they could just about be beginning for us.

Bloomberg, which first broke the news of India surpassing Britain to become the world’s fifth largest economy, contextualised it in colonial terms of a coloniser being left behind by its erstwhile colony. This underscored how a country that was left battered, bruised and bleeding by its British rulers in 1947, had steadily risen to reclaim that which was lost: economic prosperity and clout.

75 years ago India’s share of world GDP was a paltry 3%. It is important to recall this to understand the stunning rise of India in the last eight years that have seen PM Modi making major policy shifts to make up for lost decades. Those were days when successive governments dallied with Soviet-style state control and grossly underestimated the potential of Indian enterprise.

In 2014, PM Modi buried the past and launched a future that would address the many aspirations of Indians, unleash their potential, and place this great nation on a trajectory of growth while ensuring that the last person in the last row is a beneficiary of a wealthier and prosperous India.