Where does India's Competitiveness Challenge Lie?

IT IS NOT HIDDEN from anyone that a country’s economic growth is intrinsically tied to its competitive strengths. In the case of India, we have seen that the country’s competitiveness has registered substantial progress on important socioeconomic indicators. Since India entered the Amrit Kaal with a sharp focus on determining the country’s developmental strategy over the next 25 years, a lot has been remarked about the nature of development and assessment of past trajectories while making projections for the future, presenting us with the right time to take stock of the situation look at what has worked and where the challenges lie.

-  Amit Kapoor & Amitabh Kant

These need to be particularly looked at through the lens of competitiveness fundamentals. For instance, India has done well in sectors like improving access to education, infrastructure development and the quality of the business environment. According to data from the World Bank, the proportion of the population with access to electricity increased from 83.9 per cent in 2014 to 99 per cent in 2020 as a result of a significant growth in the electrical network. The amount of electricity was increased by more than five times between 2014 and 2021 compared to the years between 2007 and 2014, with the Leisang Village in Manipur becoming the final village to be connected to the national power grid by April 2018. The nation has made significant improvements to its transportation system.

Nearly seven lakh km of roads have been built since the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana began, and 99 per cent of the targeted habitations now have access to all-weather roads.

From 10,000 kilometres of rail lines in 1950 to 63,000 kilometres in 2015, the rail network has grown. India is predicted to travel 1.2 lakh kilometres by 2025. Similarly, education an essential marker of any country’s competitiveness saw considerable improvements. In India, there will be 1,043 universities by the year 2020, up from 723 in 2014. The percentage of students in the eligible age group enrolling in higher education, known as the gross enrolment ratio, was 27.1 per cent in 2019 20 compared to 24.3 per cent in 2014-2015. The number of students enrolling in higher education increased by 11.4 per cent during the past five years.