India faced a severe fiscal and balance-of-payments crisis in 1991
Bold decisions by the Rao government and Finance Minister Manmohan Singh changed the country's economic trajectory
The 1991 Budget cut the fiscal deficit, lowered import duties, liberalised industry, opened sectors to private players and welcomed foreign investment
The reforms lifted growth, strengthened competitiveness and laid the foundation for decades of higher GDP expansion compared with the pre-reform era
Later governments expanded reforms, but rising tariffs, a renewed focus on industrial policy and slower structural changes diluted the original momentum
Future reforms must go beyond industry and finance to education, skilling, healthcare, justice delivery and stronger cooperation between the Centre and states
India's next wave of reforms should be driven by long-term vision, expert-led policymaking and independent institutions—not by economic distress alone