India's biggest success is remaining a united democracy, says Sanjeev Sanyal

India is celebrating its 75th Independence Day and for the last few decades India’s GDP has been growing faster than the global average and is among the fastest when it comes to its peers in the emerging market category.

India is now a Rs 147 lakh crore economy at constant prices with a population of over 136.9 crore. India’s population stood at less than 36 crore in 1951 when the first Census was conducted and it is estimated that it is going to be the most populous country in the world and overtake China by next year.

India’s GDP per capita or the economic output of one person is over Rs 1 lakh. India may be the fifth largest economy but in per capita terms it lags behind.

GDP is a sum total of consumption, government spending, investments and net exports minus imports, and it has all been growing.

India, from being an agriculture-driven economy, has now moved to a balanced economy. In 1951 agriculture was 62 percent of the GDP, while now it is 16 percent. Manufacturing, which was 9.2 percent of the GDP in 1951, has moved up to 17.9 percent. Similarly, financial services has increased manifold from 0.9 percent to 6.6 percent.

In an interview to CNBC-TV18, Sanjeev Sanyal, Member of PMEAC, said, “India’s biggest success is remaining a united democracy. While we have not perhaps succeeded on the economic front as far as we should have, but nevertheless creating a vibrant democracy of our kind which is broadly inclusive, has been our greatest success.”