Page 9 - Nuvama | IC Report 2023

INDIA: THE 5D ADVANTAGE

financial sector is an economic force to reckon with. Conversely, a are now a political consensus. The deregulation and the reforms
combination of ageing population and over-indebtedness tend India undertook over the last ten years – GST, fuel price reforms,
to push economies into stagnation. Japan’s experience of the last DBT, Digitalisation, RERA and Bankruptcy Code, among others – are
three decades is not lost on anyone. Today, China is enervated by arduous even for an authoritarian regime. These reforms altogether
this twin squeeze—a rapidly ageing population and breakneck add up to the second unshackling of the Indian economy (after
debt accumulation. 1990) and open a long runway for its growth. India now combines the
effectiveness and purposefulness of an authoritarian regime and the
What burnishes India’s appeal further is its vibrant democracy.
At times, democracies do appear wavering and chaotic, but they are liberty and transparency of a democratic polity.
transparent systems with checks and balances. They have a tendency These forces make for a winning team of five for India, which we term as
to self-reflect and an ability to course-correct—not available to The 5D Advantage: De-globalisation, Demography, Debt, Deregulation
authoritarian regimes. At one point, unwieldy coalition governments and Democracy. Preparation may be meeting providence. The world
in India meant complete policy stasis. Caste was the key instrument seems to be looking for an India, and India appears ready for the
of electoral mobilisation. Who would have thought this could change? world. If BRICS was more about ‘C’ in 2000s, ‘I’ seems primed for
Today, good governance and development are the new grounds of prominence in 2020s.
electioneering in India. Economic reforms, once a political hot potato,

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