Indian entrepreneurs confident that India will be the world’s biggest economy within 20 years
India will be the world's biggest economy within 20 years
It shows how entrepreneurs in India view the economy, what they rate as important factors affecting its future growth, and how they assess their own business prospects.
The findings of the survey, reflect optimism with a majority of India’s entrepreneurs being bullish about India’s future.
The levels of confidence among India’s senior managers, entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs — the country’s wealth-creators — are very high. Nearly 84 percent believe that India is headed in the right direction, and nearly nine in ten say they expected India to be in a stronger economic position in the next five years.
The two most important factors affecting India’s future growth, the survey shows, are making the government more business-friendly and cleaning up corruption.
Family is the main source of the entrepreneurial spirit and start-up funds in an economy where entrepreneurs swear by ‘jugaad’, the Hindi word meaning ingenuity, often used to bypass stifling rules and corrupt practices.
Two-thirds of the respondents believe Indians are more entrepreneurial than other nations, including their future superpower rivals China.
More than half the respondents (53 per cent) are tipping themselves to create the world’s biggest economy within 20 years. India is now on course to outstrip developed nations such as the USA, Japan, Germany and the fast-emerging economic giant China over the next two decades.
What comes through most strongly from the Legatum survey is that India’s entrepreneurs believe that the country rewards hard work and that people can advance by working hard in India. This is undoubtedly good news. India has traditionally not been a good place for social mobility; the caste system is the worst example of how people were trapped in the circumstances of birth rather than rewarded for enterprise and hard work.
The survey concludes:
Entrepreneurs in India represent the vitality, optimism, and purpose of the Indian economy as a whole. The Legatum Institute Survey of Entrepreneurs: India adds evidence to what many know or sense about India’s economic future – namely that it is energetic, growing impressively, and creating positive effects beyond immediate economic benefits. The survey also adds evidence to what many understand about threats to India’s growth and sustainability – namely that bureaucracy and corruption require too much energy to be spent on circumventing problems rather than on productive activity. Future iterations of the survey will allow India’s business leaders, policymakers, and thought leaders to track trends and understand how changes in the larger economy are affecting India’s entrepreneurial population.
The survey findings are summarized in the following Indian, American and British publications:
LiveMint “What makes Indian entrepreneurs tick” http://www.livemint.com/2009/12/14220201/What-makes-Indian-entrepreneur.html?h=B
LiveMint “Entrepreneurs renew economies and keep them dynamic, and particularly so in a country such as India” http://www.livemint.com/2009/12/14211801/The-world-of-entrepreneurs.html
The American: Journal of the American Enterprise Institute “India’s Bullish Entrepreneurs” http://blog.american.com/?p=8287
Real Business: Britain’s got entrepreneurial talent “India: a “superpower” by 2030″ http://www.realbusiness.co.uk/news/leadership/5737456/india-a-superpower-by-2030.thtml
SiliconIndia “Proactive govt. can drive entrepreneurism ” http://www.siliconindia.com/shownews/Proactive_govt_to_drive_entrepreneurship_in_India-nid-63814.html
The Economic Times “India to lead global economic superpower list by 2030: Survey” http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/economy/indicators/India-to-lead-global-economic-superpower-list-by-2030-Survey/articleshow/5344460.cms
Mumbai Mirror “India to be economic superpower in 20 years, say India’s entrepreneurs” http://www.mumbaimirror.com/article/5/20091216200912161839158988940eba8/India-to-be-economic-superpower-in-20-years-say-Indias-entrepreneurs.html
The Hindu “India to be leading economic superpower by 2030: Survey” http://beta.thehindu.com/business/article66131.ece
Rediff Business “India to be top economic superpower by 2030: Survey” http://business.rediff.com/slide-show/2009/dec/17/slide-show-1-india-to-be-top-economic-superpower-by-2030.htm
The full Legatum Institute report — which is worth reading — can be found at:
