India

Global demand for transport is growing fast. On present trends, passenger and freight activity will more than double by 2050.Such growth is a token of social and economic progress. But it carries with it growth in energy demand and in emissions of CO2 and atmospheric pollutants.Greater reliance on rail can cut that growth. The world is becoming ever more urbanised and rail travel is well matched to urban needs.High-speed rail can serve as an alternative to short-distance air travel. Conventional and freight rail can complement other transport modes to provide efficient mobility.This book shows what can be done and how. Its scale is global, with a special focus on the needs and opportunities in India.

This report sheds light on one of the fastest growing economies in the world - India. By 2030, India will see a tremendous jump in consumer spending driven by increased incomes, a billion diverse internet users and a very young population. The new Indian consumer will be more affluent, and more willing to spend but will have more evolved preferences and aspirations than consumers of the past. The ‘Urban vs. Rural’ paradigm of the past may not hold as firm in future. Moreover, specific key societal challenges will have to be overcome to ensure a positive future of consumption for all. The report builds on in-depth consumer surveys conducted across 5,100 households in 30 cities and town in India and draws from over 40 in-depth interviews with private and public-sector leaders. It lays out seven critical predictions on a vision for consumption in India in 2030 and lays out a call-to-action for multi-stakeholder collaborations to build an inclusive future for India.

Despite India’s impressive economic growth rates in the mid-2000s, the long-term magnitude and sustainability of this progress remains uncertain. India’s rapid population expansion requires that the country sustain long-term growth to enable job creation over time. For the country to achieve this enduring trajectory, India must correctly identify the economic fundamentals behind such growth. This should include both short-term, cyclical barriers and long-term, structural impediments that hold it back. Articulating a set of policy priorities and guiding principles that address these issues is the best way forward for India’s future economic prospects.

Call it an American consensus: India now matters to U.S. interests in virtually every dimension. India’s economy is a fast-growing emerging market, increasingly important for international business, and Indian businesses have become investors in the United States. Geopolitically, India’s growing military capabilities can help protect the sea lanes and deliver humanitarian assistance quickly throughout the South Asian region, and increasingly across the greater Indo-Pacific. India’s long-standing stability anchors the volatile Indian Ocean region and helps ensure that no single power dominates the Asia Pacific, leading to a stable balance of power. India’s sheer scale means that complex global challenges, such as climate change, cybersecurity, and health, cannot be solved without it. Additionally, India’s diverse, plural democracy stands out in a world in which authoritarianism poses new threats to the interests of the United States and its allies.
Today, India has a window of opportunity for significant change. There are two Indias, one that appears poised for global success, and one that continues to struggle with weighty economic, social, and developmental challenges. Both exist at the same time—but against the backdrop of slowing global growth, India has a greater chance to stand out. With Prime Minister Narendra Modi elected to office on a campaign focused on job creation and economic growth rather than the welfarism of the past, India may at last be able to translate its long-heralded power potential into reality.

The World Economic Forum’s Future of Urban Development & Services (FUDS) Initiative serves as a partner in transformation for cities around the world as they address urban challenges. This report is the third in the FUDS Initiative. The first two presented the results of the initiative’s engagement with three Chinese cities: Tianjin (Tianjin Champion City Strategy), and Dalian and Zhangjiakou (Dalian and Zhangjiakou Champion City Strategy). With each of these cities, the Forum conducted a “Champion City Activity” in cooperation with the China Center for Urban Development and the World Bank.

Since the dawn of the space era in 1957, space science and technology have enhanced our knowledge of Earth, atmosphere, and outer space. They have improved the quality of life for the human race. Our space vision for the next 50 years has to consolidate these benefits and expand them further to address crucial issues faced by humanity in energy, environment, water, and minerals. Above all, we have to keep upper most in our mind the need for an alternate habitat for the human race in our solar system. The crucial mission for the global space community is to realize a dramatic reduction in the cost of access to space.

China and India, the world's two most populous countries, will exercise increasing influence in international affairs in the coming decades, and each country's role on the world stage will be affected by the progress that it makes and by the competition and cooperation that develop between them. This monograph focuses on the progress China and India seem likely to achieve from 2010 through 2025 in four domains: demography, macroeconomics, science and technology, and defense spending and procurement. In each domain, the authors seek answers to these questions: Who is ahead? By how much? and Why? The authors find that India has distinct advantages over China in terms of demographics; that the two countries are surprisingly close in terms of forecasted economic growth, although China's overall economic output is likely to remain significantly higher than India's; and that, for both science and technology and defense spending and procurement, China's current substantial margins over India are likely to rise but by amounts that will vary widely depending on several alternative scenarios. The monograph concludes with implications for policy and for further research.