Indian Economy Will Add $1 Trillion Every 12-18 Months By Next Decade, Says Adani

The Indian economy will grow at a staggering pace within the next decade, adding $1 trillion every year and a half, making it the world’s second-largest economy by 2050, Gautam Adani, the founder and chairman of Adani Group, said.

“The growth will put the country on track to be a 30 trillion-dollar economy by 2050 with a stock market capitalisation that will possibly exceed $45 trillion,” Adani said at the 21^st World Congress of Accountants held in Mumbai.

The head of one of India’s biggest conglomerates said the nation’s demographic dividend, the pace of entrepreneurship accelerated by digitalisation, and leadership in the global energy transition will drive this growth.

While India’s population will grow 15% to 1.6 billion by 2050, the per capita income will accelerate by over 700% to approximately $16,000, he said.

The growth of this consuming middle class will lead to a surge in demand, which could drive foreign direct investment to $1 trillion by 2050, up from the expected $100 billion for the ongoing year, Adani said.

Adani, who recently pipped Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, to become the world’s third richest person, sees the rising entrepreneur class transforming the nation.

Powered by the artificial intelligence and Web 3.0 revolutions, India’s startups may attract over $50 billion in venture capital funding in the current year, he said.

The third dimension that will propel India to an economic superpower will be the country’s leadership in the global energy transition, Adani said.

“Energy poverty is today the developing world’s greatest challenge, and this gap will need to be mostly filled with renewable energy,” he said. “I would go as far as to state that the revolution in alternative energy technologies opens up the possibility that, by 2050, India can become a net green-energy exporter.”

But, India cannot afford to fall into the classic "two-speed nation trap", where the top half of society becomes prosperous and the bottom half remains poor, he said.

The billionaire criticized the failure of the Western developed world to meet the expected contributions to fight climate change, as well as the leadership crisis in conflict resolution.

“The contributions expected from the developed nations have failed to come about. And the struggle to balance equitable growth with limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius has fallen far short of expectations,” Adani said.

In this emerging multi-polar world, superpowers will have to take responsibility to step in and help others in a crisis instead of bullying other nations into submission, he said.

“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.

Disclaimer: Adani Enterprises is in the process of acquiring a 49% stake in Quintillion Business Media Ltd., the owner of BQ Prime.