Going Big On India

The Future is India

A Story of India’s People, Power, Projection, and Potential

5 min readMay 4, 2024

Doing business in India; Bazaar — Doing business in Indian bazaar; Photo by Tejj on Unsplash

India is a growing, evolving, developing, innovating, exciting land of more than 1.5 billion young people. And only poised for more growth.

In my previous article, I shared the India story — how India is rising and what lies ahead. I explained why India’s time is now and how India’s large, young population, fast-growing economy, and push towards innovation will make the next decade the “India decade”.

In this article, I will share key statistics and the numbers which showcase the India story to back up my claim.

India’s growth story is just beginning and this is the time to make the most of it. Heck, OpenAI is creating an India strategy. Goldman Sachs is investing $4 billion in India. We have launched a service to help business owners navigate the Indian market— this is why we are here. More information below!

Driving India’s potential

India’s People are the true source of India’s Potential and India’s Power. India’s People are the true source of India’s Projection to become the third-largest economy by 2030 according to S&P.

We call this the 4P Framework which drives the India Growth story:

India story, Growth, Power, Potential, Projection, People — One slide to capture the India story and the 4P framework; Source: Author

The above infographic captures the essence of the India story — a young, talented population, high rates of foreign investment into India, and large sectors such as Infrastructure, Manufacturing, and IT being the key drivers for the projected future growth in India.

The 4Ps capture it all — People, Power, Projection, and Potential.

Here’s a quick run down for what it all means:

People

“India is an open and democratic country, which will soon have the world’s largest working-age population. This is expected to bring highly lucrative growth for the next 30–35 years or so,” — Macquarie Group’s Sandeep Bhatia

India’s greatest asset lies in its population.

With a median age of 28 years, India has a large workforce with over 140 million people proficient in English, tech-savvy, and hungry for growth.

India’s working population of 67% surpasses both China and Brazil, and is expected to grow even further. India’s people are its real resource and the demographic dividend of a young eager population will help India develop even further in the coming years.

Power of investments

In 2022, India saw a Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) of nearly $50 billion and remittance of over $89 billion, a quarter of which came from the USA. To put these numbers into perspective, this is the entire GDP for Tunisia and Bulgaria respectively.

And these numbers are rising! The chart below shows the growth in FDI over the last 20 years while noting its share in GDP is mostly similar over the period — showcasing a similar rate of growth for FDI and GDP.

India, FDI, Foreign Investment, Growth — FDI into India from 2004–2022; source: World Bank, Chart credit: Macrotrends

The impact of investments in India is most evident in the remarkable growth of India’s IT sector. From less than $100 million in 1990, it has surged to over $100 billion in 2024 — India is known to be the king of IT now. Indian IT giants such as Tata Consultancy Services, Wipro, and HCLTech lead the way globally for revolutionising IT.

Projection

India is the fastest-growing major economy in the world and is projected to stay that way for the coming years.

S&P projects India will be the world’s third-largest economy by 2030, behind only the US and China. Goldman Sachs expects India to be the second biggest by 2075. Anyway you see it, India’s rise is inevitable.

With the right environment, the gap from where India is at right now to where it can grow is phenomenal. An illustration of this — India’s GDP per head (at purchasing power) still sits at ~40% of China‘s GDP per head. India can easily achieve match China’s ratio over the coming years.

Potential

India’s expansion potential is undeniable — there is potential for growth across the entire economy as India makes the most of its young and skilled population and the investments come in.

To maximize on India’s growth potential, we recommend global organisations to not only consider investing in Indian companies, but also entering, sourcing, and outsourcing from India.

Based on internal research and external consultation, we believe the following key sectors are primed for growth over the coming years:

For investment: Renewables/clean energy, Infrastructure, Finance
For expanding into India: FMCG, Luxury goods, Automobiles
For sourcing and outsourcing: IT, Textiles, Manufacturing

This is the time to focus on India as China, the US, the UK, and Europe fight their respective internal struggles. India will offer much higher returns on investments, a bigger growing market, and an excellent source of talent which these more mature markets cannot match.

India is rising.

When you are in India, you feel a sense of optimism walking in the streets, talking to the people, and watching people do business.

India’s growth is not in the dry reports, but in the live interactions you can only get on the ground.

This article continues the story of our new venture: Going Big On India. This venture helps global businesses enter, invest, source, and/or outsource from India—this is the time to shine and capitalize on India.

For any product you may have, India has the market for it. For any new challenge you may want to take, India can make your solution cheaper, better, and more efficient. For any investment opportunities you seek, look no further than India.

The coming decades are India’s time to shine. What is your India strategy?