Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], December 17 : India is uniquely positioned to create a significant share of global wealth over the next five decades, noted Ashish Chauhan, MD and CEO of National Stock Exchange (NSE).
Speaking at a Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) summit at Mumbai, Chauhan underscored the central role of technology, demographics and trust-based capital markets in shaping India's economic future.
India's historical decline in global economic share was largely due to missing out on successive waves of technological change. He noted that India once accounted for nearly 50 per cent of global GDP a thousand years ago, a share that fell sharply to around 2 per cent at the time of Independence.
"The technology game was being played for a thousand years and we were not even in the stadium," Chauhan said, adding that exploitation by colonial powers was possible largely because India failed to keep pace with technological advancements.
He pointed out that India had historically been a pioneer in several foundational innovations, including the decimal system, metallurgy and early forms of medicine, but gradually shifted focus from innovation to internal social hierarchies. This, he said, resulted in long-term economic stagnation.
Chauhan emphasised that technology today should not be narrowly defined as information technology alone, but as any new method, idea or process that creates fresh value. "Technology is the only thing that creates new wealth," he said, noting that technological waves are now arriving at unprecedented speed, citing examples ranging from electricity and automobiles to mobile phones, social media platforms and artificial intelligence.
Highlighting demographic trends, Chauhan said India's young population gives it a decisive advantage over ageing economies such as Japan, China and Europe. "Societies with younger people adapt faster, create more demand and generate more wealth," he said, adding that India's demographics will remain favourable for the next 30 to 50 years.
He also drew attention to the evolution of India's capital markets, describing the rise of small retail investors as a market for trust. Chauhan said more than 13 crore Indians now invest in equities, including small investors from remote regions, reflecting growing confidence in institutions and corporate governance.
"Poor people investing in other poor people is a beautiful level of trust," he said, adding that India is challenging conventional economic theories that argue low-income countries cannot sustain robust capital markets.
NSE MD & CEO said modern entrepreneurship no longer requires large capital investments, describing the shift as capitalism without capital. He cited the rise of technology-driven enterprises and the ability of small companies to raise funds through stock markets as key enablers.
Concluding his address, Chauhan said India could see per capita income rise from the current USD 3,000 to USD 15,000-20,000 in the coming decades, and emerge as the world's largest economy. "This is India's time," he said.
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