Nilesh Shah, Managing Director of Kotak Mahindra AMC recently highlighted India’s pivotal role in global economic growth. He stated that India contributes 8-10% of worldwide economic expansion and is set to drive global growth in the coming years.
Shah pointed out that India has been the top-performing emerging market over the long term, delivering 13.7% annual equity growth between 2020 and 2025. Speaking at the Kotak International India Insight Summit at The Metropolitan Club in New York, Shah said while India currently accounts for only 3.5% of global GDP, its incremental contribution to growth is significant.
“At 3.5 per cent of global GDP, India may seem a minnow today. But incrementally, we drive 8-10 per cent of world growth, and on PPP (purchasing power parity) terms, our share of expansion nears 18 per cent, India is the engine of global growth train in the days to come,” he said.
He noted that a per capita GDP of $2,940, ranking India 136th globally, is a reminder of the long journey ahead. However, he added that despite this, India stands as the fourth-largest economy, surpassing $ 4 trillion in nominal GDP this year, a meteoric leap of six spots in just a decade, from 10th to 4th.
Speaking further on fiscal prudence, Shah said that while India’s consolidated deficit hovered over 7 per cent of GDP last year, it is the only major economy to lower its debt-to-GDP trajectory between the 2008 sub-prime crisis and post Covid in 2025. He also highlighted that India is repeatedly called to open its economy and the markets for global investment flows, yet it is the only country where foreigners own majority of its largest listed bank, asset management company, automobile company, FMCG company, telecom company and engineering company, to name a few.
“India freely allows Meta, X, Google, Yahoo, WhatsApp, Amazon, etc., to operate which China has blocked,” Shah remarked. “India drew $ 81 billion in FDI last fiscal year, about 5 per cent of global totals, yet over 25 years, net gold imports topping $ 500 billion have edged the country toward capital exporter status, as it exceeds net foreign direct investments,” Shah added.
