India’s Economic Quest
In its quest for inclusive growth, India should focus on increasing the per capita income to shed the middle-income country tag
- In its quest for inclusive growth,
India should focus on increasing the per capita income to shed the
middle-income country tag. Although India's per capita income has risen quite
impressively from $ 360 (approx. INR 30739 in current exchange rate) to $ 2,
700 (approx. INR 2,30,541 in current exchange rate) during 1990-2025, it still
remains much below the $ 14, 000-mark approx. INR 1195401 in current exchange
rate) necessary to find a place among the high-income countries. Increase in
per capita income is necessary as high growth and low-income indicates
disparities in the society, which is not a good sign for a vast and diverse
country like India.
- Going by the present trend, it seems
the Indian economy may cross the $ 14, 000 benchmark with a concerted efforts,
as India has done exceedingly well on the economic front during the past three
decades. The country’s economy has grown 6.3 per cent per annum during
2000-2024, making it the fastest growing economy among the big economies in the
world. At present, India’s economy is 11.5 per cent bigger than what it was in
1990. Besides, India has managed to restrict its population growth to 1.6
times, which has improved the per capita income. With all these positive developments,
the country has now become the world’s fourth largest economy and has the
potential to surpass the third placed Germany in a couple of years.
- In its endeavour to increase per capita
income, India may take a leaf out of countries like South Korea, Poland and
Chile, which have successfully managed to get out of the middle-income trap.
Even China is at the threshold of achieving the feat with its per capita income
currently standing at $ 13, 000. In this context, the fact that both India and
China roughly have the same per capita income in the 1990s, will definitely
provide New Delhi a much-needed boost. As a matter of fact, two the Asian
giants, which represent 37.17 per cent of the world's population, have
dominated the world economic scene like never before for last couple of
decades. By managing to maintain a growth rate of 10 per cent for three
decades, the Chinese economy is now the second largest in the world at $ 19
trillion. During the last 35 years, its economy has expanded by 51 per cent and
is not far from becoming a high-income country.
- On its part, India has also done well in
terms of economy in recent times, considering the fact that the world economy
has gone through various ups and downs during the last three decades. It may be
noted that the Chinese quest to be an economic power started way back in 1978,
while India initiated economic reforms in 1991. India, however, had to face the
challenges posed by economic recession in 2008, COVID-19 pandemic (2020) and
trade disruption caused by several wars over the last few years but managed to
overcome them. What remains to be seen is whether or not it will succeed in its
quest to become a high-income country.
