Second largest population in the world: A problem or a huge opportunity?
Second largest population in the world: A problem or a huge opportunity?
Introduction
India is more than just a growth story for investors. It is a nation powered by its vast population. The second most populated country after China, this nation is a leading destination for companies worldwide due to its huge domestic market. Having the second largest population is definitely a massive opportunity for India. Credited with having one of the largest growing working populations in the world, India will soon establish itself as a global superpower due to this reason.
Viewpoint
• As the nation which has the second highest population across the globe, India has continued to attract global firms and international brands. Many global companies such as French retailer Carrerfour and US retailer Walmart have been seeking to make inroads into India because of its huge population. Apart from attracting investors and multinational firms, India is also emerging as a leader on a global scale.
• Knowledge transfer and innovation in India have speeded up due to its large population. Young entrepreneurs are such as Sachin and Binny Bansal who have founded leading online retailer Flipkart are the backbone of the Indian economy. The huge number of ideas that are been generated by young Indians point to the immense potentiality of knowledge as a means of transforming the Indian economy and boosting productivity.
• This stimulates investment in knowledge and ensures that there are greater production volumes. The huge domestic market of more than a billion consumers in India belonging to various different segments drives the manufacturing and services sector. According to the latest Indian census, nearly 51.8% of the population in the nation is under 35 years of age. Of this, about 31.3% are from 18 to 35 years of age. The vast number of young people who are fuelling a consumer economy in India will also play a key role in shaping political and social innovations in the country.
• Having attained the status of the second most populated nation in the world also provides other benefits such as an increase in the national saving and greater economies of scale. With an increase in the volume of production, the total cost of per unit will lessen. This is a massive advantage for domestic industries as well as global companies seeking to establish a base in India.
• According to thinkers such as Nobel Prize winner Gary Becker, knowledge-based economies benefit from population growth. India will be able to attain a massive spurt in income and this will also lead to further development of social welfare ventures for providing healthcare and other benefits for the masses.
• Larger countries also benefit from massive growth due to booming global economies that attract investment from domestic as well as international sources.
• The current economic crisis caused by the recession and consequent slowdown has affected many economies. But countries with a massive population such as India are more insulated from the adverse impact of such a crisis.
Having a vast percentage of young workers ensures that Indian is able to leverage technology to a far greater extent and move forward in the world order.
Conclusion
As the working population increases, the large workforce can boost the annual growth rate and spur the development of the Indian economy. 250 million people will be added to the working population in India by 2020, according to some estimates. India’s demographic dividend due to its massive population is going to propel this nation to the status of a world leader and a financial powerhouse.
This huge potential needs to be tapped by business leaders and entrepreneurs. It represents the key to the evolution and growth of the world’s largest democracy.
Discussion
- RE: Second largest population in the world: A problem or a huge opportunity? -Deepa Kaushik (05/04/14)
- A problem or the opportunity, it completely depends on how we perceive a situation and tackle a matter. Regarding the population in our country, we have not utilized the manpower, and we don’t have any plans to use the biggest resource of manpower available with us. In such a scenario, the population in India is no more than a set back for the development of the nation.
We can use the man power instead of installing plenty of machinery. Mechanical support in the world is focussed just because they lack manpower. We have blindly followed their path, creating unemployment issue throughout the country which has in turn increased the crime ratio in the country.
With this big disadvantage of jobless youths being attracted abroad with lucrative salary offers, the brain drain has led India down internationally. Though Indians have become famous worldwide, still India as a country is lacking far behind in economy.
Population in India has done no good to the development of the nation, which has only portrayed as a bursting balloon of troubles. This definitely need to be resolved with appropriate policies.
- Second largest population in the world: A problem or a huge opportunity? -Farhana Afreen (04/03/14)
Second largest population in the world- a problem or a huge opportunity?
Population growth is considered one of the biggest problems in India. It is debated if being the second largest population in the world is an advantage or a drawback for the development of the country. Wherever a discussion is initiated about the problems that hinder the growth of our country population is never omitted from the list along with illiteracy and poverty. We shall discuss both the aspects of this problem.
Against the view:
• In a country as ours where the majority of the population lives in slums, are malnourished, do not have proper house to live in and cannot afford basic medical expenses, population growth cannot be considered an advantage.
• Fight for space in urban regions of the country is vastly increasing. For the kind of growth in population that is being predicted from the current surveys, it won’t be long that there won’t be any space left in major cities.
• Cultivation and production of food grains is increasing, no doubt, but the ratio is still low in comparison to the level of population explosion. Millions of Indians’ basic biological needs are not fulfilled, and should the population persist to grow, it will no longer be possible to produce enough food to cover those demands of people below poverty line.
• Every day India adds the most number of people to its population than any other country. And the surprising part is that a majority of this rise comes from the poorer families of the country. It is definitely not a good sign for a developing country.
• Child labour, beggary and other such crimes are also a result of huge population growth from the poorer half of the country.
In support of the view:
• At present, lot of developed & industrialised countries are facing the problem of negative or zero population growth. Older citizens are more in those countries and lesser people to take care of those senior citizens.
• Production increase and economy augment is also possible because there are lot of worker available at cheaper rates and this is due to high population. Most part of the Indian population is of the younger people and hence a greater contribution to the economy of the country can be expected.
• Due to higher population, people are migrating to other developed nations for jobs or studies that is benefitting the country in many a ways. Skilled technicians from our country and highly appreciated and demanded in other countries that are highly developed.
• Large numbers of people in the working age are contributing towards the economic growth of the country.
• Completion is high in a country with large population since there is fight for space, be it educational section or job, youngsters are working harder to become more apt that the others which is one reason why so many genius minds are from India.
• At times of crisis, a country with larger population benefits the highest since the losses are easily and swiftly tacked.
