From Sensex to exports, how much have we scaled our economy in 30 years

Major economic reforms in the early 1990s changed the face of the Indian economy

The Indian economy has come a long way from the day that happened to be the one that set it on acceleration.

The day was July 24, 1991. The changes in industria­lisation and trade policies that began in the early 1990s brought a sort of a scaling factor to parts of the economy, as the government became more conscious about being a facilitator to the private sector over time. 

 

GDP: 5.4x

The real size of India’s economy is more than five times it was back in 1991. India became a services sector-based economy in this period

On BSE, only one company retains spot in top 10

But the shift in market leadership from manufacturing firms to services firms, and especially financial ser firms, is probably the biggest change that happened to economy

Mobile phone users: 325x

Perhaps mobile telephony had the strongest penetration growth since liberalisation, and India now has the cheapest data rates in the world

Inflation: Stable and lower

"Bouts of high inflation were much more common three decades ago, mostly fuelled by demand fuelled by faster economic growth"

Sensex: 42x

The benchmark stock market index of 30 companies, BSE Sensex, has grown 42-fold in 30 years. Most of the growth came after 2004

Exports: 16x, Imports: 20x

While India’s imports are 20 times their level in 1991, showing a major improvement in consumption demand, exports have grown with a slower pace

Mutual funds: 71x

While India’s imports are 20x their level in 1991, showing improvement in consumption dem­and, exports have grown at a slower pace

Insurance penetration: 4x

Insurance is a major product, whose pene­tration has grown at a snail pace. The space insurance premia occu­pied in GDP has shrunk