Former Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Raghuram Rajan opined that people living in north Indian cities like Noida and Gurugram work as if they were “working in a first world economy”.
Rajan, who was the 23rd Governor of the Reserve Bank of India, holding the prestigious position from September 2013 to September 2016, said this on Akash Banerjee’s YouTube channel ‘The Deshbhakt’, in a podcast titled ‘Raghuram Rajan’s Economic Roadmap and a Warning “For India.”
“Parts of the Indian economy belong to the first world”
There, the former central bank governor was asked to share his vision on the country’s economic progress and the challenges ahead.
In response, he pointed to the economic activities in cities like Noida and Gurugram. “Parts of the Indian economy belong to the first world. People in Noida and Gurgaon are basically working in a first world economy,” he said.
Both Noida, which is located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, and Gurugram, Haryana (the city was… It was renamed in 2016 (but still popular by its old name, i.e. Gurgaon) are satellite cities of Delhi, and with them, along with a few other places nearby, form the National Capital Region (NCR). The two cities are centers of information technology, industry and finance despite their relatively small population.
What is a “first world economy”?
In general, these are highly industrialized countries and have developed economies. Sometimes, these countries are also called “developed” or “industrialized” countries. India is currently the fifth largest economy in the world (behind the United States, China, Japan and Germany respectively) and is also the fifth largest economy in the world. It is expected to rise to third place by 2030Surpassing Japan and Germany.
What else did Rajan talk about?
Meanwhile, on the podcast – you can watch it here – Rajan also touched on topics like Unified Payments Interface (UPI), demonetization in November 2016, India’s journey to a developed economy by 2047, and more.
“Great success. Success has many fathers. I want to claim a little fatherhood. It started during my time at the RBI, and now we are doing 10 billion transactions a month.