India to be world’s second largest economy by 2050, to add a trillion dollar to GDP every 12-18 months: Gautam Adani

Chairperson of Indian conglomerate Adani Group, Gautam Adani, speaks at the World Congress of Accountants in Mumbai on November 19, 2022.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Asia’s richest man Gautam Adani on November 19 said India, which took 58 years to become a trillion dollar economy, will add an equivalent sum to GDP every 12-18 months and will be the world’s second largest economy by 2050.

Speaking at the 21st World Congress of Accountants in Mumbai, he said back-to-back global crises have challenged several assumptions, including that China should adopt western democratic principles, secular principles are universal, the EU would stay together, and that Russia would be forced to accept a reduced international role.

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“This multilevel crisis has shattered the myth of a unipolar or a bipolar world of superpowers that could step in and stabilise global environments,” he said.

“In my view — in this emerging multipolar world — superpowers will need to be those that take responsibility to step in and help others in a crisis and not bully other nations into submission, those that keep humanity as their foremost operating principle.”

A superpower, he said, must also be a thriving democracy and yet believe that “there is no one uniform style of democracy”.

“The style of capitalism that drives growth for the sake of growth and ignores the social fabric of a society, is rightfully facing its greatest pushback ever,” he said.

Mr. Adani, 60, said the foundations of India’s increasing economy might have become relevant and a majority government has given the nation the ability to initiate several structural reforms in the political and administrative system.

“It took us 58 years to get to our first trillion dollars of GDP, 12 years to get to the next trillion and just five years for the third trillion.

“Given the pace at which the government has been executing a vast multitude of simultaneous social and economic reforms, I anticipate that within the next decade, India will start adding a trillion dollar to its GDP every 12 to 18 months — thereby putting us well on track to be a $30 trillion economy by 2050 and with a stock market capitalisation that will possibly exceed $45 trillion,” he said.

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India is currently the world’s fifth largest economy with a gross domestic product (GPD) of $3.5 trillion. In comparison, the U.S. is a $23 trillion economy with a stock market capitalisation ranging from $45 to 50 trillion.

“A country, crushed and drained by its colonial rulers, today stands on the cusp of an extraordinary growth and is the only major country on a path to emerge as a high-income nation without compromising its democracy and diversity,” he said.

“Well before 2030, we will be the world’s third largest economy and, thereafter, the world’s second largest economy by 2050.”

In purchasing power parity (PPP), India’s share of global GDP will be north of 20% by 2050.

“India’s success story of combining economic growth and democracy has no parallel. If there ever were a time to be Indian, be in India, and associate with India – it is now. The foundation to build a new resilient India has already been laid,” he said.

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Mr. Adani saw India’s median age at just 38 years in 2050, population of 1.6 billion with a per capita income of $16,000, over 700% higher than current per capita income.

FDI will touch a trillion dollar, in sign of increasing global confidence in India.

“In 2021, India added a unicorn every 9 days. It executed the largest number of real-time financial transactions globally — a staggering 48 billion. This was 6 times greater than the U.S., Canada, France, and Germany combined,” he said adding this year VC funding will exceed $50 billion, a 50x acceleration in 8 years.

Mr. Adani, whose ports-to-energy conglomerate is investing $70 billion over the next decade in a new energy value chain, said India can become a net green-energy exporter by 2050.

“As both domestic companies and multinationals take advantage of India’s market size, we will need stronger mandates wherein corporates are compelled to rise to the challenge of enabling a social structure that recognises the core of our culture and is aligned with our national needs,” he said.

“India cannot be just seen as a land for ‘making and taking’ profits out of its geographic boundaries. This is why I said that the superpowers in the multipolar world must recognise that there is no one size of democracy that fits all.”