Inclusive growth: vision and challenges of an emerging economy -a case study of India

India has widely been recognized as a success story of globalization. Over the past two decades, it has moved to be one of the major drivers of the world economic growth; emerging middle class consumers, high technology exports and impressive growth rate of real GDP(Gross Domestic Product) have been instrumental for attracting foreign investors. However, the impressive growth of India has not been successful in bringing enough progress in the major weaknesses of the economy. As per the data of 2004–05, still 28% of the population lie below the poverty line, there is only marginal reduction in the absolute number of this poverty parameter; from 320 million of 1993-94 to 302 million in 2004–05.The failure of stupendous economic growth of India in including economically and socially deprived section is reflected in its marginal achievement in Human Development. As per the National Family Health Survey-3(NHFS-3) nearly about 46% of the children in the age group of 0 to 3 years suffer from malnutrition in 2005–06. Translating economic success into the inclusive growth which will be reflected through human development and improvement in the quality of life of the poor will require public policies to be pruned aiming explicitly at broadening the distribution of benefits from growth and global integration.