The How What and Why of Indian Growth

THE HOW WHAT AND WHY OF INDIAN GROWTH

Have you ever wondered why all the fuss is created around India as a major super power .As India keeps on the persistent pursuit for a permanent seat in the UN security council while the countries of Germany , Japan looks on. The aura that brand “India” has created over the years has been backed by phenomenal and unprecedented growth rates and industrial development .Lets see what the facts have to say .

India is the best place for budding entrepreneurs, as stated by the global services location index by AT Kearney. India has been the best place to start a business for some years now and the experts belief that it will continue to be the same for the years to come .India’s foreign reserves stands at US $300 billions. This crude cash helped to survive the bitter recession that brought down major company to the blink of a bankruptcy. This crude cash helped India still put on 9% growth rate when countries and their shares where falling like dominos. India has also of late displaced USA as the second most favoured nation for (FDI) Foreign Direct Investment after China. If you still don’t find statistics staggering check this out, poised at a phenomenal growth of 500 per cent, the Indian insurance industry is expected to reach US$ 80 billion in the next four years. India adds about 10 million phone subscriber every month and the total subscriber stands at 755 millions, making it the second largest user of cellular service and the third largest user of Internet.

India has one of the largest road networks in the world, aggregating 3.34 million kilometersIndian ports handled cargo of around 570 million tonnes, the passenger traffic rose by 25-30 per cent and is expected to grow by 25 per cent year-on-year over the next five years. While international and domestic air traffic grew by 35 per cent, cargo witnessed a 12 per cent growth. India is the Sixth largest crude consumer in the world it is also the Ninth largest crude importer in the world. India has the sixth largest refining capacity - 2.56 million barrels per day representing 2.99 per cent of world capacity .Estimated to be a US$ 350 billion industry, the Indian retail sector is growing at a growth rate of 47%.The travel and tourism sector in India is generated a total demand of US$ 55,544.5 million of economic activity accounting for nearly 5.3 per cent of GDP and 5.4 per cent of total employment. International Iron and Steel Institute (IISI) has ranked India as the seventh largest steel producer in the world with an overall production of about 40 million tonnes in 2006.India exports US$ 6 billion worth of garments. India is the largest consumer of gold jewellery in the world and accounts for about 20 per cent of world consumption. India is the largest diamond cutting and polishing centre in the world. India is the second largest producer of rice and wheat in the world; one of the largest producers of sugar, sugarcane, peanuts, jute, tea and an assortment of spices. The Indian pharmaceutical industry, consistently growing at 9.5 per cent in the last 5 years, a zip at 13.6 per cent between 2007 and 2010 has made the market size of US$ 9.48 billion in 2010 from its present level of about US$ 6.2 billion. Healthcare delivery is one of the largest service-sector industries in India. The country will spend US$ 45.76 billion on healthcare in the next five years.

Astonishing! WOW! These were only some of the underlined facts that have made India a pioneer of world economy as it slowly and steadily climbs the ladder for world supremacy .But the way ahead is not as simple as it seems. With the “Dragon” as hot as never before India’s first major challenge is perhaps the toughest. However we should never forget the might of the US, the current state of India is same as that of USA during 1960. India will have to rise at the same rate for 50 more years and US has to remain static, for India to be at par with the USA.

:-ABHINAV YASHKAR