India is likely to be the fastest growing emerging economy till at least the end of the current decade. The country is projected to grow at 7.7 per cent between 2016 and 2020, significantly outpacing other emerging economies. China is expected to grow at 6.4 per cent over the period, while other emerging economies like Brazil and Turkey are likely to grow at 2.2 per cent and 3.3 per cent.

Roughly 77 per cent of India’s economic growth between 2012 and 2025 will come from 49 clusters of districts with metropolitan cities at their nucleus. Some Indian cities may reach the size of the current middle-income countries. Mumbai, for example, will become equivalent to Malaysia of today. Delhi's economy will be equal to that of the Philippines. But sustaining this growth is largely predicated on the degree to which rising urbanisation creates non-farm employment for the ever-growing pool of workers.

With China moving up the value chain, India is well-positioned to grab a large share of the low end of manufacturing that the country is vacating. As these jobs require relatively low skills, creation of a labor-intensive manufacturing sector would facilitate the shift away from agriculture. But so far India has failed to take advantage of this. Other countries, notably Bangladesh, Cambodia and Vietnam, have grabbed a lion's share of the manufacturing that is shifting out of China.