India to be world's highest growth nation in 21st century: IBM study

Report says by focusing on economic ecosystems, India will be positioned to transform its role globally

India is predicted to be among the world’s highest-growth nations over the coming years, says a report by IBM Institute for Business Value. Titled ‘Indian Century: Defining India’s place in a rapidly changing global economy’, the report highlights various advantages enjoyed by the Indian economy — entrepreneurial attitudes, healthy demographics, a rising middle class, stable political environment and strong institutions. 

However, the 1,088 leaders of corporate houses, start-ups, members of the academia and the government surveyed for the report also identified the hurdles in the way of long-term prosperity. 

According to the report, the transformation taking place in the country promises to support continuing economic advancements. However, sounding a note of caution, the report highlights: “...Despite positive forecasts, traditional development may lead India into the ranks of middle-income, rather than high-income countries.”

More than half the executives surveyed identified India’s engagement in new global economic ecosystems as means to leapfrog traditional development paradigms and to grow India into the ranks of the global economic elite. 

According to the report, 55 per cent of Indian executives who participated in the study believed that emerging business ecosystems would redefine the future of the global economy, and 52 per cent planned to start the ecosystem journey themselves by expanding collaboration with organisations from other industries.

The report identified six specific benefits to economic ecosystems — new business models which can create revenue opportunities by monetising activities and assets, increased collaboration to expand disruptive influences and promote creativity, improved access to capital for Indian businesses, aligned investment objectives, expanded innovation, and improved access to skills to mitigate skill bottlenecks. 

The report said India would be positioned to transform its role in the world by focusing on economic ecosystems — moving from being suppliers to strategic leaders, from technical providers to innovation orchestrators, and from market participants to platform providers.