‘Reel-making freelancers’: Finfluner warns of India’s untapped youth workforce

India is sitting on its most valuable asset – a huge and young population. But according to Akshat Shrivastava, founder of Wisdom Hatch, failure to educate and properly communicate this demographic will jeopardize the country’s economic interests.

“We can’t be rich because we don’t have oil. We can’t be rich like China because we don’t have an autocratic government. The truth is: every country has it. We have something important. We have a lot of young people,” Shrivastava said in a pointed social media post.

Shrivastava’s comments highlight a critical juncture in India’s economic journey. In comparisons often made between India and China, the numbers tell an interesting story.

In the year In 1980, India’s per capita GDP was nearly twice that of China. Today, China’s per capita GDP at $25,015 is 2.5 times higher than India’s at $10,123. Similarly, China’s exports are $3.5 trillion, dwarfing India’s at $0.78 trillion.

Although India has progressed particularly in the last decade, it remains at a high level in terms of developing human capital. Shrivastava’s concerns echo broader fears about misuse of resources.

“Consumption and economic growth depend on how we educate and move this generation. But right now, we are not doing enough,” he said.

Shrivastava’s concerns are echoed by former RBI governor and University of Chicago professor Raghuram Rajan, who has criticized India’s economic policy priorities. Rajan argued that India’s focus on high-tech projects such as semiconductor manufacturing over critical investments in education is misplaced. He pointed out that India spends more on chip manufacturing subsidies than its annual budget for higher education.

“This is definitely not the way to be a developed country,” Rajan said.