For 140 crore Indians, the latest economic forecast is a reason to smile. For the Indian Opposition, particularly the Congress, it is a reason to sulk. After all, what will they peddle now? Their favorite pastime has been parroting whatever nonsense Donald Trump blurts out — from the absurd claim that he “stopped” a war between India and Pakistan, to his smug assertion that India is a “dead economy.” If India is dead, then the corpse is dancing, sprinting, and building rockets while the so-called “world’s superpower” stumbles under debt and delusion. The latest EY Economy Watch smashes the gloom industry. India, it says, is emerging as the most dynamic among the world’s five largest economies. Strong fundamentals — high savings, robust investment, favourable demographics, and fiscal discipline — are powering this rise. While the US flirts with trade wars and Europe frets over ageing citizens, India relies on something sturdier: domestic demand and technological muscle. And the technology story is no longer about “back-office outsourcing.” India is scripting the future. Its AI talent pool now rivals Silicon Valley’s. Its technologists secure skies, satellites, and cyberspace. In defence, India is no longer begging for imports — it is designing shock and awe. Agni-V and VI missiles with 8,000-km range, an upgraded missile dome that rivals Russia’s, the unstoppable BrahMos, the indigenous Tejas jet, and even research into space-warfare systems. A nation once dismissed as an arms buyer now manufactures the very weapons that rattle adversaries. This is Modi’s India: unapologetic, confident, and ready. Numbers tell the bigger truth. By 2025, India’s median age will be just 28.8, while Japan and Germany sink into retirement homes. By 2030, India’s debt-to-GDP ratio will fall below 76%. Compare that to America’s 120%+ and Japan’s 250%+ debt nightmares. According to IMF projections, India could hit $20.7 trillion (PPP) by 2030 and $34.2 trillion by 2038, overtaking every economy but China. And while China’s population shrinks and its debt balloons, India enjoys the one thing Beijing cannot manufacture — youth.
Reforms have been the fuel. GST unified the market, IBC cleaned up crony capitalism’s mess, UPI turned India into the world’s digital payment laboratory, and production-linked incentives revived manufacturing. Infrastructure is booming, renewable energy policies are aggressive, and semiconductors are no longer a pipe dream. Fiscal prudence under Modi is slowly erasing deficits instead of exploding them. The West spends recklessly and calls it stimulus; India spends wisely and calls it reform. Now, Trump’s tariffs. He imagines he can bully India with a 50% levy on imports. Reality check: the hit is barely 0.9% of GDP, and the actual growth impact? Just 0.1 percentage point. A mosquito bite, not a gunshot wound. India counters with export diversification, stronger domestic demand, and new trade pacts across ASEAN, Africa, and the Middle East. In fact, Trump’s antics only isolate America. Modi, meanwhile, shakes hands with Africa, Asia, Europe, and the Gulf. The contrast is stark: one leader builds bridges, the other burns them. EY’s Chief Policy Advisor DK Srivastava nailed it: India’s comparative strengths — youthful demographics, robust savings, and stable debt — will keep the economy strong even when the world is in turmoil. Add AI dominance, defence breakthroughs, and digital innovation, and India is no longer a “rising power” politely waiting its turn. It is the power setting the terms of the century. The Congress party and its echo chambers may continue their shrill dirge about “jobless growth” and “crony capitalism,” clinging to every insult lobbed from Washington. But the facts demolish their narrative. The truth is, the only “dead economy” today is their bankrupt politics — built on borrowed lies and outsourced credibility. India is unstoppable, and under Modi, it is not apologizing for its success. The world better get used to it.
