15 Facts About India That Will Blow Your Mind
Gus
Lubin and Mamta Badkar Jan. 3, 2011, 12:53 PM 1,083,102 31
A fire-breather in Mysore
Happy New Year. India hopes this
will be the year it returns to a pre-crisis growth rate of 9% -- on its way to
becoming the world's fastest growing country by 2014.
But to reach this goal, the world's
largest democracy will have to stave off threats of price inflation, asset
bubbles and civil unrest.
It will almost certainly be a bumpy
ride.
In
the next three years, up to 25% of the world's new workers will be Indian
42%
of the world's poor live in India
That's over 450 million people
living below the international poverty line of $1.25 a day, according to the World Bank.
India's
GDP per capita will quadruple from 2007 to 2020, according to Goldman Sachs
Property
prices in Mumbai and Delhi have more than doubled in the past 18 months
Source: Reuters
India's
tech capital, Bangalore, has increased its office supply by six times since
2006, and now has more Grade-A offices than Singapore
Half
the world’s outsourced IT services come from India, amounting to a $47 billion
dollar industry
Walmart
alone outsources $1 billion in IT contracts to India
India
is the world's second largest importer of arms and has spent $50 billion on
defense purchases in the last decade
India
grows 12 million tons of mangoes in a year, the weight equivalent to 80,000
blue whales
India's
Cherrapnuji is the wettest places on earth, receiving 425 inches of rain every
year
A
bigger movie market than America and Canada combined, India sold 3.2 billion
tickets last year
The
average Indian is nearly 20 years younger than the average Japanese (26 vs 45)
Indians are also around ten years
younger than rival China, which was limited in growth by its one-child policy.
In
recent decades, 500,000 female births have gone missing each year due to
(illegal) sex selection and abortion
India
has 568 million more registered voters than the US -- and a better turnout rate
too
India
used to account for 33% of the world's GDP; then fell to 3%; now may rise to
25%
India led the world in GDP before
the industrial revolution, when population meant productivity, and India had
the largest population. Following the industrial revolution, India entered a
long period of economic stagnation.
The future outlook comes from Goldman Sachs, which sees India passing the U.S.
economy in 2050, trailing only China.
Now
learn about the other economy in the race of the century...
