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Today, India completes 77th Independence day. From a colonised country by the Britishers to a $3.6 Trillion economy. And, Bharat will double to the $7 Trillion in the next 7 years - similar to what happened in China โฌ๏ธ
Don't bother about the GDP โ๏ธ
Let's look at the per capita income - the amount of money earned by an average citizen in a year. India's per capita in 1947 was โน250 which is now โน1,70,000.
Seems all good? Not really? ๐๐ป
India's top 1% population holds 22% of national income. Read that again. And, that's a major problem to be solved as we become a $7 Trillion economy.
What's our path to $7 Trillion economy? ๐ฐ
1/ Quality education for everyone ๐
Seems very basic- but we as a country need to solve the 23% illiteracy rate & more importantly the quality of our education. We need education based on value creation rather than mugging up stuff.
2/ Building 100s of โน1,000+ Cr revenue companies ๐ฐ
We need the TATAs & Reliance of the world but we also need thousands of companies making 7-digit revenues. That means we need more founders starting these companies & tech to scale them at speed.
3/ Re-skilling our prime workforce ๐
Our government has done some good work here. But, we need to push this more. When I go back to my native (remote village in Maharashtra), I still see young men/women without jobs and a bachelorโs degree that's useless.
4/ Women's contribution to the workforce ๐คท๐ปโโ๏ธ
India's female labor participation rate has been surprisingly declining over the past 20 years, from 32% in 2005 toย 19% in 2021. This needs a fix or we are losing out on an opportunity to double the per capita income for households.
5/ The India stack for tech + infra โก๏ธ
UPI & JIO has solved access to information & digital payments. We need more additions to the India stack across last mile/ logistics/ railways & deeper national highway connectivity.
6/ Build in India for the world ๐
Our software-building capability is our right to win. We don't have to do rocket science (ISRO is doing that btw) to solve the net trade deficit. It will help us boost the purchasing power of the Indian rupee.
Indiaโs software exports reached a record high of US$ 320 billion in FY23, increasing its share in global computer services exports to about 11%, according to a report from DBS Group.ย This is a strong sign to double down.
7/ Healthcare for everyone ๐ฉบ
Only 37%ย of the people in the country have any sort of medical insurance. Medical expenses is one of the core reasons for lower economic strata to never come out of poverty. Access to healthcare at an affordable cost is second.
8/ Extremely stable political vision ๐งโโ๏ธ
Plot a graph of India's GDP vs periods of political stability - it's a clear pattern. You like/ don't like a specific government - the per capita numbers don't lie. We need a strong political "will" to really compound as a country.
What's something you & I can do?
As a startup ecosystem, we need to solve 3 things. First, access to capital & credit. Second is helping founders build companies that solve a real need. Third, build enough talent density for these companies so they can keep building & distributing their products. Jai Hind ๐ฎ๐ณ