Get rich fast or die trying: India's choice is a no-brainer

India Today

30-05-2025

Our Saare Jahan Se Achchha nation is stuck in a bizarre spot in an even weirder world in 2025. India's neighbourhood is a geopolitical soap opera: China plays trade partner and border bully, Pakistan is China's eager errand boy, and the US, under a whimsical wheeler-dealer, picks fights with friends. We just stumbled into a war with Pakistan, utterly unnecessary when we had better things to do. The US, predictably, backed its forgotten ally, even though Pakistan's firmly on China's leash. Even Bangladesh is run by a hostile gang of unelected Islamists. Sri Lanka and the Maldives need rescuing, and Myanmar is a tragedy in slow motion.advertisementThe subcontinent is spinning, and so are our heads. India's self-image is closer to its aspirations than the gritty reality of the world. To bridge that gap, India needs to get filthy rich. Prime Minister Narendra Modi recently tweaked his "This is not an era of war" mantra to "peace comes from a position of strength". That strength? It's economic muscle, not just military biceps.Economic heft is the best armourA May 2025 World Bank report says to hit high-income status by 2047 (PM Modi's target), India needs an average growth rate of 7.8% for the next 22 years. Let's round it up to 8%, because half-measures will not cut it. India's GDP growth has been solid but not spectacular. The stats ministry clocked 6.2% for the last quarter of 2024, with 2025 projections dawdling at 6.5%. Decent, but not enough to outrun China's shadow or buy the toys needed to tame our wild neighbourhood.advertisement
A $4-trillion economy growing at 8.5% adds roughly $340 billion annually (about Pakistan's entire GDP). That's cash for defence, infrastructure, and lifting millions out of poverty. Without it, India risks being a populous but toothless giant, ignored by global players. As the saying goes, money can't buy love, but it sure buys aircraft carriers and friends, in need. We just became the 4th largest economy, but per capita GDP is still abysmal. The population isn't shrinking. The economy must grow. We'll soon overtake Germany to claim the 3rd spot, but the gap with China is humongous.Make Reforms Un-dirty AgainManmohan Singh isn't remembered for his two terms as Prime Minister but for that one stint as Finance Minister. You know why! India's economic story since his 1991 reforms is a tale of bold starts and frustrating stalls. Born from a balance-of-payments crisis — when India had just two weeks of import cover — the 1991 market opening was a giant leap. It slashed the Licence Raj, devalued the rupee, and opened trade, catapulting GDP growth from what is derisively called the "Hindu rate" of 1.25% to a savvy 7.5% by the 2000s. Foreign exchange reserves quadrupled in five years, and poverty rates dropped significantly.advertisementPM Modi's first term sparkled with promise: Make in India, GST, and FDI liberalisation. Land reforms were shelved, but other things seemed on track. The second term, however, went full Nehruvian: big government, sluggish disinvestment, populist socialist policies, and a retreat from agricultural reforms after farmer protests in 2020–21. To make matters worse, a global pandemic caused significant damage. The third term, now a year old, does not feel much different.Disinvestment DilemmaModi promised to get the government out of business, but public sector undertakings (PSUs) remain sacred cows. Manufacturing's share of GDP has slumped to 13%, the lowest since 1967, despite Make in India's lofty 25% target. The Air India sale is the lone silver lining. The government clings to PSU dinosaurs, flaunting their turnarounds as trophies. Running businesses, even profitable ones, isn't the government's job. Niti Ayog says 100 billion dollars lie locked in here.Labour ReformsOnly 10% of our workforce is skilled, compared to 60% in China. Coupled with a focused Skill India push, the necessary unshackling of the labour market can give impetus to the manufacturing sector, and help realise the Make In India dream. The 2020 Industrial Relations Code eased hiring and firing, but it's stuck in trade union quicksand, including those from the Sangh Parivar. Streamlining labour laws could turbocharge manufacturing and attract global value chains, where India trails Vietnam and Thailand. Labour market reforms could create millions of non-farm jobs, critical for our educated youth, a 2024 UNU report notes.advertisementAnother big-ticket Modi promise was improving the ease of doing business. Though India has moved up the global ranking for facilitating businesses, Licence Raj is alive and kicking butt.Make Black White AgainAgriculture employs 45% of India's workforce but contributes just 15% to GDP. The 2020 farm laws crashed into farmer protests and were repealed in 2021. Since then? Crickets. Farmers called these laws black laws because they alleged lack of consultation. What's stopping the government from consulting farm interest groups now and crafting laws to boost agricultural output? Instead of dodging taunts about failing to double farmers' income, the Centre needs reforms that can actually double their income.Make in India & Skill IndiaMake in India is a mixed bag. FDI inflows hit $81 billion in 2020–21, but manufacturing's share of GDP hasn't moved. Skill India, launched in 2015, aimed to train 400 million workers by 2022 but reached only 40 million. Apple, Google, and Tesla may cheer Make in India, but do we have workers matching China's precision tooling and motherboard craftsmanship? A 2025 World Bank report urges doubling down on skills and tech to hit 8% growth. Revamping these initiatives could add 2% to annual GDP, OECD estimates.advertisementMoney Talks, Poverty WalksIndia's strategic headaches — China's border games, Pakistan's proxy wars, and a potentially isolationist US — demand economic firepower. A richer India can afford $120-billion defence budgets, not the $81-billion it scraped together in 2024. It can fund regional aid, like the $1-billion Nepal package in 2014, to counter China's Yuan-erosity. It can absorb shocks like the 2020 recession or demonetisation's 2016 thrashing.Poverty reduction is the flip side. Despite growth, 40% of India's workforce languishes in low-productivity agriculture. Trickle-down economics has flopped. Income inequality has spiked, and unemployment is unsustainable. Schemes like MGNREGA (2005) and Jan Dhan Yojana (2014) help, banking 300 million unbanked and guaranteeing rural jobs, but they're band-aids. Every election, we have a new set of band-aids. The cure? Grow so fast that wealth actually trickles down. Sustained 8% growth can create the 1 crore+ jobs India needs annually.The War ConsensusPM Modi wields more political capital than Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh did in 1991. Free foodgrains, welfare schemes, and rapid infra upgrades have only enriched his clout coffers. He must spend it.advertisementThe country's mood is electric. We're united against terrorism bred by our western neighbour. To the world, we're a rainbow coalition, with all-party delegations pitching India's story. But if it takes a war to unite us, it's time we declared war on slow growth. If PM Modi can rally the opposition to counter Pakistan's narrative, why not for economic reforms? If we can forge consensus against terrorism, we can do it for growth. If terrorism is non-negotiable for PM Modi, then neither should be his promise of India becoming a "Developed Nation by 2047".India's at a crossroads. It can coast at 6.5% and stay a regional player. Or it can reignite reforms, aim for 10%, and create jobs, buy drones, and gain global clout. Manmohan Singh turned a crisis into opportunity in 1991. PM Modi must turn his conviction into reality. Ditch the socialist nostalgia, privatise the dinosaurs, liberate labour, and supercharge agriculture. Make in India and Skill India need a reboot, not a requiem. Politics can wait; growth can't.China's rising clout isn't about its military. It's about three decades of relentless high growth. Military might is a buy product of economic ascent.As he navigates the second year of his third term, PM Modi must channel his inner Manmohan Singh, not his inner Nehru.Tune InMust Watch