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    The Indian Eye
             COVER STORY                                                               AUGUST 21, 2026                                       4

                                                                 INDIA AT 80

                                                A RISING

                       GLOBAL POWER

                      Eight decades after Independence, India today is a transformed
                                country even as major challenges remain unfinished

            OUR BUREAU

            New Delhi
                     hen India became indepen-
                     dent in August 1947, the
            Wcountry inherited a deeply
            impoverished economy, low levels of
            literacy and industrialization, a frac-
            tured society and the enormous task
            of holding together one of the world’s
            most diverse populations. Eight de-
            cades later, the contrast is striking.
                India in 2026 is the world’s most
            populous country, one of the fast-
            est-growing major economies, a nu-
            clear and space power, a digital giant
            and an increasingly influential voice in
            global affairs. Its athletes compete for
            medals on the world’s biggest stages,
            its films and music travel far beyond
            its borders, and its diaspora has be-                  India’s democratic story at 80 is consequently both impressive and contested (ANI)
            come a bridge between India and the
            countries in which millions of Indians
            and people of Indian origin live.  diciary, a federal structure and a mul-  ation for Democratic Reforms study.   cent that year. The Economic Survey
                But India’s 80-year journey is not   tiparty political system.  The 2023 constitutional amendment   2025-26 estimated growth of 7.4 per
            simply a story of achievement. It is   There have been difficult periods   providing for one-third reservation   cent for FY26 and projected 6.8-7.2
            also a story of unfinished promises —   — the Emergency of 1975-77, political   of seats for women in Parliament   per cent growth for FY27.
            of poverty that has not disappeared,   instability in the late 1980s and 1990s,   and state assemblies could eventually   India’s economy is now driven
            jobs that remain inadequate, inequal-  communal tensions, insurgencies and   change that equation. India’s demo-  not only by agriculture and manu-
            ities that persist, institutions that are   continuing debates over institutional   cratic story at 80 is consequently both   facturing but increasingly by services,
            constantly tested and a vast popula-  independence. But elections have re-  impressive and contested.   technology,  finance  and  a  huge  do-
            tion still seeking a better quality of life.  mained central to the transfer of po-  From scarcity to aspiration  mestic consumer market. Services ex-
                The story of India at 80 is there-  litical power. The scale of Indian de-                        ports reached a record $387.6 billion
            fore one of remarkable transforma-  mocracy is extraordinary. In the 2024   n 1947, India was overwhelmingly   in FY25, while India’s share of global
            tion, but also of an unfinished nation-  Lok Sabha election, 64.64 crore votes   dependent on agriculture, had little   merchandise exports nearly doubled
            al project.                       were  polled,  compared  with  41.73   Iindustrial capacity and was strug-  from 1 per cent in 2005 to 1.8 per cent
              The endurance of democracy      crore in 2009. Overall voter turnout   gling with food insecurity. The econom-  in 2024.
                                              was 66.10 per cent.               ic journey since then has been dramat-  Digitalization has become anoth-
                  erhaps India’s greatest achieve-  More  significantly,  women  are   ic. The early decades were dominated   er defining feature. Millions of Indians
                  ment is political rather than   becoming an increasingly powerful   by planning, public-sector investment   who once stood outside formal bank-
            Peconomic or technological: de-   electoral force. In 2024, female voter   and protectionism. The 1991 eco-  ing  now  participate  in  the  financial
            mocracy survived.                 turnout was 65.78 per cent, slightly   nomic reforms changed the trajectory,   system. By March 2025, more than 55
                At independence, sceptics doubt-  higher than the 65.55 per cent turnout   opening India to greater competition,   crore bank accounts had been opened
            ed whether a largely poor, illiterate   among men. Women accounted for   private investment and global trade.  under the Jan Dhan programme.
            and socially fragmented country could   48.62 per cent of registered electors.  The transformation since then   Yet the next economic challenge
            sustain democratic government. Yet    Yet political representation re-  has been enormous.            is more complicated. India needs mil-
            India built a constitutional democra-  mains a weakness. Women constitut-  The World Bank estimates In-  lions of productive jobs for its young
            cy based on universal adult franchise,   ed only around 10 per cent of MPs   dia’s GDP at around $3.96 trillion in   population, higher manufacturing
            regular elections, an independent ju-  and MLAs analyzed in a 2026 Associ-  2025, with real GDP growth of 7.6 per   Continued on next page... >>

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