Manmohan Singh: Optimistic about India’s economy with a word of caution

In his last interview in September 2023 to a national daily, Dr Singh said India can rise to become an economic powerhouse of the world in the coming decades through emphasis on manufacturing and production combined with services. "As the world transitions to an environment-friendly development model, it opens new avenues such as green mobility, minerals and clean technologies that India must be ready to capitalise on, which can yield jobs and prosperity to our people," he said.

Speaking about challenges ahead for India, Dr Singh said, "On the whole, I am more optimistic about India’s future than worried. However, my optimism is contingent on India being a harmonious society, which is the bedrock for all progress and development. India’s innate instinct is to welcome and celebrate diversity which must be preserved."

In one of the articles that he wrote last year, Dr Singh warned against widening income gaps. “As we pursue the path of inclusive economic growth, we should not permit only a select few among India’s business leaders to reap the benefits of prosperity while income gaps keep widening.”

The former prime minister also had a word of caution about attempts to dislodge the US dollar as a global currency. “A forced and hurried dismantling of this order and replacing it with rushed bilateral local currency arrangements can prove to be more detrimental for the global economy in the longer run,” he wrote in another newspaper.

“Opportunities to buy discounted oil or commodities may be enticing but if it entails a prolonged departure from the established order of dollar-based trade settlement or jeopardises established trading relationships with western bloc markets, it can have longer term implications for India’s export potential,” Dr Singh wrote.