India Rising is the story of an ancient civilisation that is transforming itself into a modern economic powerhouse. More than a billion people who were trapped behind protectionist walls
and condemned to live in poverty are now ready to participate in the global economy. This is a process that will send inevitable ripples through countries across the world. India’s economic
renaissance will have a major impact on global business, economics and geopolitics. It cannot be ignored. The Rise of India will, in terms of its enormity, be on par with the rise of two other
Asian countries in the 20
th century --- Japan and China. But what is driving this unprecedented change in the world’s second-most populous country?
The author argues that although the first set of economic reforms in 1991 were pushed through by a group of liberal technocrats in government, the pressure to change now comes from the ground
up. He identifies six key transitions that will drive economic change in the coming decades --- in policy, demography, telecoms, globalisation, consumer behaviour and financial markets. But
these are not unstoppable. Each of them creates its own challenges and it will be up to both government and civil society to maneouver their way through these challenges. They will test the
creativity of Indian society.
