We often see social media postings about "It happens only in India!" Many boundaries are breaking and we see inspiring stories of breakthrough efforts and achievements from unexpected corners. 

Now and then we read news stories of individuals achieving great feats, in spite of all barriers. A young girl from Kerala creates a new machine or a small town boy from Maharashtra designs a new kind of bicycle. A flurry of likes and shares on Facebook begins.

The comments if translated into an emotional equivalent says:

"Way to go India! Let's conquer the world!"

The Objective Look:

Now let us take the patriotic blinkers off and look at the situation in an international perspective. It's a race and there are many more countries competing with us. We might be faster than before, but not fast enough! The data suggests in comparison to others we are getting back.

As per the World Economic Forum's Global Competitiveness Index:

Beyond Numbers:

We are fond of comparing ourselves with the Chinese economy. Recent news reports suggests that we are overtaking China in terms of growth percentage. They are at rank 28. Which is 41 ranks ahead of us. A huge difference.

But it not just numbers that's important. In the survey countries are divided into various stages. We are in the 'factor' driven economy. The lowest category.

It means we are still competing on the basis of unskilled labor, natural resources and low prices.

The next stage is efficiency driven economy where you compete on better productivity, efficient processes and quality of output produced. China is an efficiency driven economy.

So, just multiplying what we do is not good enough. We have to focus on the qualitative aspects. 

Some people will be quick to suggest that UPA 2 and its dismal performance is responsible for this reversal in the trend from 2009.

I don't want to get into that debate. As a country what matters is that we are not doing well. We all must put our act together. We must establish institutions and systems which can convert available resources and talents into future projects. What we are doing is not good enough, we must push ourselves.

Now there are 2 choices:

1: Some of us can outright discard these surveys.

Because it really looks like a paradox. We see so much energy in our youths. Entrepreneurial spirit is high. And yet we are lagging behind.

2: Let's take it as an indicator, get our act together and make the most of our resources.

What you suggest?

Links: For an in depth study here is the complete report for you.