Archive · 3 Oct 2026
India’s Global Integration Advances Slowly 35 Years After Liberalisation
India changed its economy in 1991 to connect more with the world.
A new analysis compares India with other countries using percentile rankings.
It says India has improved in some areas, including economic prosperity and protection from outside financial shocks.
Its manufacturing ranking has also gone up, though it is still low.
India’s ranking for productive capability has barely improved and has even fallen slightly.
The analysis says India is strong in services, medicines and technology, but its goods exports are comparatively modest.
A large home market helps businesses, but it may also reduce the push to compete abroad.
The overall message is that India has made progress, but becoming more globally integrated will take further work.
An analysis of India’s post-1991 trajectory says progress in global integration has been mixed and slow relative to other countries.
India’s external-resilience percentile rose from 94 in 1991 to 98 in 2024, while economic prosperity increased from 64 to 75.
Productive capability slipped from the 45th percentile in 1991 to the 42nd in 2024.
Manufacturing improved from the 14th to the 27th percentile, but remains a relative weakness.
The analysis points to exports, manufacturing, productivity and economic complexity as areas needing further progress.
- Who
- India; the analysis is discussed by Shankar Sharma.
- What
- An assessment finds uneven gains in India’s global integration since the 1991 reforms.
- When
- The analysis compares 1991 with 2024; the article marks 35 years after liberalisation.
- Where
- India, in comparison with other countries.
- Why
- The analysis examines how India’s relative position has changed across economic prosperity, productive capability, external resilience and manufacturing.
Domestic-market strengths
Global-integration challenges
Role of the domestic market
Domestic-market strengths
Strong domestic consumption can support economic growth.
Global-integration challenges
A large domestic market may reduce pressure on companies and policymakers to compete more aggressively internationally.
Assessment of liberalisation
Domestic-market strengths
India has improved its relative position in economic prosperity, external resilience and manufacturing since 1991.
Global-integration challenges
The analysis describes overall relative progress as slow and uneven, with productive capability lower than in 1991 and manufacturing still ranking relatively low.
- Period assessed
- 1991–2024
- External resilience
- Percentile ranking rose from 94 to 98.
- Economic prosperity
- Percentile ranking rose from 64 to 75.
- Productive capability
- Percentile ranking fell from 45 to 42.
- Manufacturing
- Percentile ranking rose from 14 to 27.
- Estimated pace
- Shankar Sharma described the best-fit-line slope as +0.15 per year and said one percentile-rank gain would take roughly seven years if other countries continued progressing at their existing pace.