A BJP bigwig on how India can become an advanced economy

THE INDIA I grew up in had just secured its independence and was struggling to meet essential needs like food, fuel and foreign exchange. It is now the world’s second-largest food producer, measured by calorie content, and a net food exporter. India still imports fuel but is increasingly harnessing solar and wind power. Foreign-exchange reserves are at an all-time high. India is now the world’s fifth-largest economy and some analysts predict it could be the third-largest by 2027.

In the past, during negotiations with the multilateral organisations and investors, India would often be described as a country of great potential that would remain one. For many years the gibe may not have been entirely unfair: India progressed in fits and starts.