Will India’s population help the country achieve its economic aspirations or obstruct it?

United Nations recently released a report that claims that India’s population will cross China by a big margin around the middle of this year. Population explosion has been a major issue in this country and concerns were raised in the past when it was first estimated that India’s population would eventually overtake China’s, especially with the fragile economic condition India was in about a couple of decades ago. Now that this prediction is finally coming true, it spurs the question that India will become an economic superpower or continue to battle poverty.  

Making the best use of India’s young population  

Surveys from some of the most reliable institutions state that a majority of India’s population is below the age of 35, which gives India great potential to build up vast industrial depths and become another manufacturing hub of the world besides China. The country had imposed a long-running ‘One Child Policy’ from 1980 to 2015 to make a drastic drop in its population. Still, it ultimately resulted in making a majority of China’s population old in present times. India can take advantage of these circumstances and relace China in several aspects, including manufacturing.  

Parallelly, India is also implementing a massive build-up in its infrastructure. The Finance Ministry announced a 33% growth in the infrastructure budget for this fiscal year, and experts believe that this number is likely to go up in the coming few years. Under such conditions, India’s population will be critical in executing ambitious and large-scale infrastructure projects that will improve connectivity, invite foreign investments, and prepare India for a digital future as it aspires to reach $5 trillion.   

Investing in population skilling

Along with the current lack of infrastructure, limited skill in our labour force is another major issue that needs to be tackled. Companies investing in India need a skilled labour force that is trained in accordance with their job specifications. It is necessary to allow big portions of our annual budget to go to education and other upskilling initiatives that have been previously launched by the government. Skilling the new generation as per the needs of the future will empower India’s population to boost India’s economy from across various sectors. However, actions of the present will reap the fruits in the long run, and hence it is necessary to take major steps today to ensure that India’s population becomes its economic strength.