Stamping a seal of approval on India’s growth story, investment bank Goldman Sachs in its recent report has said the country is poised to become the world’s second-largest economy by 2075, surpassing the likes of Japan, Germany and the United States.
The report states that favourable demographics, innovation and technology, higher capital investment and rising worker productivity will drive the growth. Currently, India is ranked the work’s fifth-largest economy, trailing Germany, Japan, China and the US.
“Over the next two decades, the dependency ratio of India will be one of the lowest among regional economies,” said Goldman Sachs Research’s India economist, Santanu Sengupta.
“India has made more progress in innovation and technology than some may realise. Yes, the country has demographics on its side, but that’s not going to be the only driver of GDP. Innovation and increasing worker productivity are going to be important for the world’s fifth-biggest economy. In technical terms, that means greater output for each unit of labour and capital in India’s economy,” said Sengupta.
The report highlighted the Indian government’s focus on infrastructure development in terms of roads, railways and other metrics may very well drive the growth locomotive. It argued that the time was ripe for the private sector to take the plunge and create capacity in manufacturing and services in order to generate more jobs and absorb the large labour force.
“The labour force participation rate in India has declined over the last 15 years,” it noted, adding, “If you have more opportunities – especially for women because the women’s labour force participation rate is significantly lower than men’s – you can shore up your labour force participation rate, which can further increase your potential growth.”
Net exporst have also had a negative impact on India’s growth but the report took an optimistic view and said the service exports had been cushioning current account balances.
India has age by its side
According to a Time Magazine report, nearly half the population of India (650 million people) is below the age of 25 – meaning the country won’t be hitting its peak until 2065.
Adults aged 65 and older comprise only seven per cent of the population compared with 14 per cent in China and 18 per cent in the US. The share of Indians who are 65 and older is likely to remain under 20 per cent until 2063 and will not approach 30 per cent until 2100, under the UN’s medium variant projections.
The report, released on the same day it was announced that the Foxconn-Vedanta mega semiconductor production facility was off the table may come as a booster shot of confidence for the Indian government.
