India achieving its independence was a transformative moment that changed the course of life for millions of people – at the stroke of midnight.
Recently I came across this rare souvenir – a calendar printed in the year 1947 which happened to be the last calendar where 15th August was not declared as a national holiday. While they say “change is the only constant” this calendar is a robust reminder that India’s independence was here to stay. Her freedom was forever.
Today more than 75 years later, India has navigated the ebbs and flows that came its way and focused on cementing its place on the global map as a destination that offers a rare concoction of untouched flora & fauna, mighty mountain ranges, sandy sea beaches, bustling metro cities with opportunities for investments of global stature and places of worship potent in spirituality & healing. India’s winning strategy lies in staying rooted to its democratic ethos and culture while aiming for the impossible – be it entering into an elliptical orbit around Mars or landing on the dark side of the moon. In the last few years India rapidly transcended from being a primarily agrarian economy to a dominant force in the service sector landscape.
Its more than 1.4 billion population exhibited impressive technology prowess, robust adoption of the internet & digitization and channelised their energies towards infrastructural development and nurturing a robust start-up ecosystem. In this era of interlinked global value chains and backed by a population of this magnitude, India is a force to reckon with in shaping global trends. India’s soft power in the global realm combined with its streamlined focus on becoming an economic powerhouse by the end of the 21st century establishes the country as an obvious choice for global investors, wooed by India’s sustained expansion. Transforming its infrastructure – one road, one airport & one railway station at a time, India is setting aside capital to the tunes of USD 134 billion to accelerate economic expansion. 55,000 kms will be added to India’s highway network which is bound to catapult trade, manufacturing and retail towards rapid growth.
The country’s per capita GDP surged 55% between 2014 and 2023 – marking the largest growth compared to other major economies. And if that was not enough, India has now made inroads into the league of stock market superpowers as the National Stock Exchange cemented its position as the sixth largest exchange of 2024 with market capitalisation growing 50% between February 2023 and February 2024. While the Indian democracy and economy are far from perfect, I believe the India of 2024 wields immense promise of uninhibited transformation and strategic development and it is the people who will play a pivotal part in driving India’s growth story to higher realms of global success.
James Mathew
