India’s Purposeful Path Through Economic Change
Context : This essay builds on the ideas presented in “India Stands Out for Purposeful Policymaking in a Choppy World” by V. Anantha Nageswaran (Mint, 1 December 2025). It examines how India has managed global uncertainty through steady decisions, strong economic planning, and bold new missions. At the same time, it explores the deeper challenges the country must overcome such as jobs, institutions, and fairness to turn today’s progress into long-lasting and inclusive growth.
Introduction
In his article “India Stands Out for Purposeful Policymaking in a Choppy World” (Mint, 1 December 2025), V. Anantha Nageswaran argues that India has managed global uncertainty with firm and well-planned decisions. His view highlights the country’s strong performance during years marked by trade tensions, shifting supply chains, and worldwide slowdowns. This essay argues that while India has indeed shown purposeful and confident policymaking, the country’s long-term success will depend on strengthening institutions, widening economic opportunities, and managing ambitious reforms with fairness and coordination across society.
Strong Foundations
India’s steady economic growth in recent years has been driven by a combination of responsible public spending, well-timed monetary policies, stronger banks, and large-scale infrastructure investment. New roads, highways, ports, and modern transport networks have helped reduce delays, cut costs, and improve connections between cities and rural regions. At the same time, healthier corporate balance sheets and rising credit flows have encouraged more investment from businesses.
This progress matters because it reflects a system that has learned from past financial problems. Banks, which once struggled with bad loans, are now more stable. Borrowing costs have come down, making it easier for firms to expand. These steps, combined with a growing consumer market, have supported India’s ability to move forward even when the world economy has slowed.
Yet the surface success does not erase deeper challenges. While growth is strong in terms of economic output, the labour market continues to struggle. A large portion of the workforce remains in the informal sector, where jobs offer little protection or security. Many young people find that the jobs available do not match their skills, leading to underemployment. This mismatch reveals that India’s growth, though impressive, is not fully inclusive. A strong economy needs strong workers, and this requires consistent improvements in education, skills training, and job quality.
Industrial Missions
One of India’s boldest strategies has been the development of long-term missions in areas such as semiconductors, shipbuilding, rare earth magnets, critical minerals, and advanced electronics. These industries are crucial for both economic strength and national security. Major incentives andgovernment-backed programmes aim to build factories, attract foreign investment, develop talent, and strengthen supply chains within the country.
These missions show a state with ambition and a clear desire to reduce dependence on foreign suppliers. They also represent a shift towards future-ready sectors. However, successful missions require more than money or announcements. They need strong coordination between industries, universities, research centres, and state governments. They also need transparent rules, fair competition, and opportunities for smaller firms, not just large corporations.
If these missions become overly centralised or dominated by a few major players, they may fail to create broad-based development. A true industrial transformation happens when entire ecosystems grow—where start-ups, skilled workers, suppliers, and innovators can all participate. India’s missions have great promise, but their long-term outcome will depend on the quality of implementation.
Global Winds
The global economic climate has become more unpredictable. Trade wars, geopolitical rivalry, and shifting alliances have changed the way countries plan for their economic futures. India has responded by strengthening its domestic capabilities, diversifying trade partnerships, and reducing the risks of over-dependence on any single region or supplier.
This balanced approach—neither fully protectionist nor fully open—has helped India withstand sudden shocks. For example, when targeted tariffs affected exporters, domestic demand and quick adaptation prevented major disruptions. This shows that resilience is not only about protecting borders, but also about making the domestic economy strong enough to adjust and recover.
However, global engagement remains important. Cutting off competition or raising barriers too high could reduce innovation and harm long-term competitiveness. For India to grow into a major global manufacturing hub, it must integrate into international value chains while still protecting its strategic interests. This delicate balance will define India’s economic future.
Institutional Gaps
A recurring challenge in India’s development story is the gap between policy design and policy delivery. The central government may announce strong reforms, but implementation depends heavily on state governments, local bodies, and a wide network of agencies. This creates uneven performance across the country.
Large missions—such as building semiconductor fabs or developing critical mineral chains—require high levels of technical skill, coordination, and regulatory clarity. Difficulties arise when different institutions pull in different directions or when local capacity is too weak to support ambitious plans. This makes execution slower and sometimes inconsistent.
Strengthening institutions means improving the quality of governance at all levels, ensuring transparency, reducing delays, and building the skills needed for complex projects. Without these improvements, even the best-designed reforms may fall short of their goals.
People and Welfare
Economic progress is meaningful only when it improves the lives of ordinary citizens. India has seen rising rural wages, improving household savings, and greater stability in inflation. Better infrastructure has created jobs in construction, transport, and related sectors, while digital services have expanded opportunities for small businesses.
Still, the lived reality for many remains uncertain. High youth unemployment, underemployment, and uneven access to quality education and healthcare limit the potential of millions. Rural gains can be easily weakened by climate-related problems or lack of support services. While consumption levels have risen, this does not always reflect secure or long-term improvements in livelihoods.
For India to achieve durable progress, it must invest consistently in human development—education, health, skills, and gender equality. A growing economy must be matched by growing opportunity.
Strategic Choices Ahead
India’s future depends on how it manages several key choices. These include balancing self-reliance with global cooperation, improving state capacity to support complex technologies, ensuring fair distribution of growth, and preparing for climate-related challenges. Each choice involves trade-offs between speed and stability, ambition and practicality, national goals and global partnership.
The encouraging signs—strong GDP growth, improved infrastructure, rising confidence—show what India can achieve with sustained effort. But the next stage of development requires deeper reforms that build institutions, broaden participation, and ensure that growth benefits more people.
Conclusion
India has shown notable strength and purpose in navigating global uncertainty. Its steady growth, bold industrial missions, improved infrastructure, and expanding financial systems demonstrate a country moving with confidence. Yet genuine long-term success rests not only on high-level policy decisions but on the strength of institutions, the quality of jobs, and the inclusiveness of development.
India’s purposeful policymaking has created momentum, but maintaining this momentum requires reforms that reach every level of society. If the country can strengthen its governance, deepen its human capital, and balance ambition with fairness, it can turn its current progress into lasting and widely shared prosperity. The path ahead is demanding, but with thoughtful choices and steady commitment, India can shape a future defined not just by strong numbers, but by meaningful and inclusive growth.
