ON August 15 India celebrated the 64th anniversary since her attainment of independence from England in 1947. Guyana is linked to India through cultural and economic ties and we are grateful to India for her financial assistance as well as for sending Indians to rescue the economies of Guyana and the Caribbean. And it is because India paved the way for freedom of the colonies after WWII, that Guyana was able to obtain her independence. In Guyana, Guyanese attended the flag-hoisting celebrations and reception.
Since becoming a nation, India has made many strides in its economic performance. From a poverty-stricken nation in 1947 and beset with starvation during several years, India is the second fastest growing economy in the world today.  This is because of the economic reforms pursued by PV Narasimha Rao and Manmohan Singh since 1993. The below are some of the achievements gleaned from the internet on India’s economic prowess.
*Since the 1980, India has been growing positively and producing enough food to feed herself.  In fact, India has been a net exporter of food since the 1980s. Since 2000, India’s growth rate has been above 8% and is projected at an average of 8.4% until 2020.  If this projection holds up, India will overtake  all of the G-8 economies except the US. India’s official GDP (in US $ terms) exceeds $1.5 trillion, but its unofficial economy is double that.  By 2050, India is projected to have the largest or second largest economy in GDP terms.
*India’s early growth rate was due to primary (agriculture, ores, etc.) contributions. For the last decade, the growth spurt was achieved primarily because of the contribution of manufacturing productivity.
*India’s labour is four times more productive in industry and six times more productive in services than in agriculture.
*Gains in manufacturing are expected to continue for decades to come.
*The employment of Indians in agriculture has steadily declined from 90% at independence to 55% today. Figures show negative marginal productivity in agriculture and positive productivity in small-scale industries.
*After the onset of reforms in 1991, India began to unshackle its closed socialist economy. Average tariffs have fallen to below 15 % from as high as 200 % as India began to reintegrate with the world economy. Today exports have gone up 20 times from then.  Trade has been booming.  Balance of payments have been running positively for the last dozen years with hundreds of billions in surplus.
*India is becoming increasingly urbanized although the government is taking action to build more cities rather have people move to current super cities. * In 1991, India had 23 cities with a million or more people. Today, it has over 40.
Investments have been pouring into India and Indians have been investing in other economies pouring some $20 billion a year in the US alone over the last 25 years.
*There is a rise in capital accumulation in India with diaspora capital. Like the Chinese diaspora, the Indian diaspora is investing heavily in the land of their ancestors.  Indo-Guyanese and Indo-Caribbeans are also investing in India because of the pride and confidence they have in their mother country. On this note, I urge Afro-Guyanese to invest in their ancestral homeland of Africa to help the continent overcome its economic woes.
*India is building new subways that rival those of Europe and North America for fast, efficient transporting of people
*India is building new super highways which are expected to reduce travel times by half, lower fuel costs and freight delivery times, and enable firms to leverage economies of scale, help ease congestion in cities, and attract activity. The highways will open up the closed worlds of India’s villages and interconnect them.
*India has the world’s largest middle class.
*Of ethnic groups, Indian-Americans (including Indo-Guyanese and Indo-Caribbeans) make the largest contribution to the share of America’s GDP even though Indian-Americans make up only 1% of the population.
*India has the world’s largest English-speaking population
*India has one of the world largest pools of engineers, doctors and technical expertise.
* India’s potential growth rates and expansion will absorb trade from the developed world to ease their problems of stalled growth.
The potential for productivity gains and boost to the economy are substantial.