India is sitting on its most valuable resource—a massive, young population. But according to Akshat Shrivastava, founder of Wisdom Hatch, failing to educate and properly channel this demographic could spell disaster for the nation’s economic ambitions.
In a pointed social media post, Shrivastava wrote, “We don’t have oil, so we can’t become rich. We don’t have an autocratic government, so we can’t become rich like China. Fact: every country has something valuable. We have a huge young population. If you keep them ill-educated and turn them into reel-making freeloaders, of course, we will never become rich.”
Shrivastava’s comments highlight India’s critical juncture in its economic journey. With comparisons often drawn between India and China, the numbers tell a sobering story.
In 1980, India’s per capita GDP was nearly double China’s. Today, China’s per capita GDP, at $25,015, is 2.5 times higher than India’s $10,123. Similarly, China’s exports, valued at $3.5 trillion, dwarf India’s $0.78 trillion.
While India has made progress, particularly in the last decade, it lags significantly in leveraging its human capital. Shrivastava’s concerns echo broader fears about the misuse of resources.
“Consumption and economic growth hinge on how we educate and mobilize this generation. Right now, we’re not doing enough,” he implied.
Shrivastava’s concerns echo those of Raghuram Rajan, former RBI governor and professor at the University of Chicago, who has criticized India’s priorities in its economic policy. Rajan recently argued that India’s focus on high-profile projects like semiconductor manufacturing over critical investments in education is misguided. He pointed out that India spends more on subsidies for chip manufacturing than its annual budget for higher education.
“This is certainly not the way to become a developed nation,” Rajan said.