Why India is Well on its Way to Become a Developed Nation

A couple of months ago, I met a US settled school friend. He had come to India after a gap of almost five years.

He confided in me that his trip was full of jaw-dropping moments right from the time he landed in India. The kind of transformation the country has seen over the last few years has left him shocked.

Here are some of his observations.

The first thing that struck him was the general enthusiasm that most people he met had about the future.

Whether it was growth in salaries or development in infra or even personal growth, there was a visible spring in the steps of most people that he says is hard to come across in the US.

He was amazed at how we have an app for everything now, right from food to groceries to medicines and even house repair. His own experience using these apps was flawless.

Another thing that impressed him was the quality of roads at most places that he had visited. The expressways in place like UP and down south, deserved a special mention.

And last but not the least, being a techie himself, he couldn't help but sing endless praises of the country's UPI system. His honest feedback was that it was at least 10 years ahead of anything that exists back in his adopted homeland.

Of course, not everything was sunshine and rainbows as per him. There are still a lot of areas where India had a lot of catching up to do. But he was impressed at the pace of change and how India was moving in the right direction.

I am sure a lot of you would have heard similar stories from your US settled friends when they come down here.

You see, sometimes it takes an outsider who's seen both the worlds, to make us aware of the wonderful times that we seem to be living in.

I can't help but wonder how much India has improved for the better over the last couple of decades. Technology, infrastructure, financial services, transport, health, you name it. You will see positive changes sweeping across these industries.

I strongly believe this is India's third giant leap in action. It's the third leap in India's quest to become a developed nation.

You see, as extraordinary as they were, the first two leaps fell short of taking us where we want to be.

They helped us tremendously no doubt, but it is the powerful forces that reside within the current leap that will really make all the difference in my view.

And the good news is that as my friend rightly observed, these forces are already making their present felt.

In case you are wondering what the first and the second leaps were all about, think back to the time just after India's independence. More than 70% of our population was below the poverty line.

Industries were virtually non-existent. India was not even able to produce enough food for its people. We were forced to import even basic agricultural produce like wheat.

In fact, during 1965 war with Pakistan, there was acute shortage of food in India. In those days, India used to import agricultural produce from the United States.

During the Indo-Pak was of 1965, the US threatened to cut supplies of wheat to us if we didn't stop the war. But India was not ready to bow down to American pressure.

Our prime minister at the time, Lal Bahadur Shastri, requested all Indians to go without one meal at least once a week. So that, no foreign nation could arm-twist India into following their command.

We stayed hungry. And we fought against Pakistan to protect our sovereignty. But the 1965 war was the seed for India to take a giant leap of prosperity.

Shastri Ji made it clear that if India wanted to achieve progress, then the very first step we need to take is become self-sufficient in agriculture. He started the White Revolution and Green Revolution in India.

Remember, Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan? This was India's first giant leap.

Within just ten years of starting this agricultural revolution, India became one of the top agri-producers in the world.

India's agri revolution was the foundation for the growth of some of the biggest companies. Like Mahindra and Mahindra and Escorts that started selling tractors.

UPL, Rallis India, and Tata Chemicals sold crop protection products. And companies like Hindustan Vanaspati Manufacturing that later merged to become Hindustan Unilever.

But becoming self-reliant in agriculture was just the first step for India.

Our service sector and industries were still struggling to grow because of restrictive policies of the government of that time. We all know how the licence-permit raj delayed India's growth by several decades.

But a major boost came with the economic liberalization of 1991. This set the foundation for India's economic progress.

It put India on a global map. Many small Indian companies of that time became global giants in just a few decades.

And their early investors became crorepatis. I'm talking about companies like Infosys, HCL Tech, HDFC Bank, Asian Paints, Titan, Bajaj Finance. Look at the kind of returns these stocks have generated.

Infosys jumped 24 times in the last two decades. HCL Tech multiplied investor money 30 times.

HDFC Bank grew investor wealth 72 times. Asian Paints 174 times.

Titan multiplied invested money a mind-blowing 1,380 times. And Bajaj Finance was even higher at 2,301 times.

All this is the result of India's second giant leap.

But this is nothing compared to what we could potentially witness when India takes its third giant leap.

Wait, am I saying that the third leap will easily dwarf the first two?

Yes, I am. History tells me this third leap is what turns a developing nation into a developed one.

And how companies that play a significant role in this transformation go on to generate life-changing wealth for investors in the long term. It has happened every single time in all the economies I've studied.

So, what exactly is this third leap and how should we go about our stock picking so that we reap huge profits from this once in a lifetime opportunity?

Well, I will discuss this wealth creating opportunity in detail on Monday, 17 April at a special event.

I invite you to join me at this event and find out how you can ride this once in a generation wealth creation opportunity.

Please do not miss this for anything as it could make a world of difference to your long term investment goals.

Warm regards,


Rahul Shah
Editor and Research Analyst, Profit Hunter