Editorial – September 2024
As we all know, India is the fastest growing large economy in the world, surpassing even the giants like the US, China, and Germany. We have seen for more than two decades, from 2000 till 2022, China continuously expanded its economy by a double-digit growth rate. Now it seems the Chinese economy is slowing down a bit. Many experts believe that China has crossed that fastest-growing period in the famous economic growth curve. The US is struggling with its internal issues like illegal immigration and state-centre relations, and though their economy is growing, the growth rate is not satisfactory. The EU is also fighting a recession in most of its member countries, and though Germany’s economy is supposed to be the strongest among EU countries, it also faces a threat of recession. Whatever it may be, the fact remains that India’s economy is growing at a decent rate and would continue to do so in the coming years.
I have repeatedly mentioned in this column that India’s economic growth is triggered by infrastructure development, and ‘metals’ is at the centre of infra development. One cannot imagine infrastructure development without metals. Thus, if India’s economy has to grow, it must have strong support from the metals industry. This way, the growth of the metals industry is directly related to the economic growth of the country. There may be temporary ups and downs in the journey, but the overall direction is certainly north.
The infrastructure development-led economic growth is a striking feature not only of India but also of other South Asian countries. The economy will revolve around big infra projects, but if we look around, most of India’s neighbours are in trouble. Look at the situation in Bangladesh, Pakistan, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Afghanistan, and the Maldives. All these countries are facing a political crisis. Till last year, Bangladesh’s economy was doing quite well, but political instability has ruined it completely. A similar story is true for most of the other neighbouring countries. Friends, here is the opportunity for India. As the big brother, India is helping these countries come out of the crisis, sometimes by giving aid and sometimes by giving business. I think the metals industry should look for more and more business with these countries. Our associations should invite companies from these countries to their events, offer them memberships, and spread our activities in these regions. This can help not only the metal producers and processors but also the technology and equipment-supplying companies to expand their business activities in these countries.