Does economic data support the hype around Narendra Modi’s India?

In just a few days, India will commence the world’s largest democratic election.

In just a few days, India will commence the world’s largest democratic election. An estimated 960 million people in a country of 1.4 billion are eligible to vote in the polls, which start on Friday and will take more than a month to complete. Narendra Modi is widely expected to clinch a rare third consecutive five-year term as prime minister. Under his leadership, India is poised to become a 21st-century economic powerhouse, offering a real alternative to China for investors and consumer brands hunting for growth and manufacturers looking to reduce risks in their supply chains. While ties between Beijing and the West are becoming increasingly frayed, India enjoys healthy relations with most major economies and is aggressively wooing large companies to set up factories in the country. So, is the hype around Modi’s India, which remains a largely impoverished country, justified? The quality of economic data in India can be unreliable, which makes it tough to evaluate the reality on the ground in the world’s most populous nation.