India’s economy is experiencing a major slowdown. According to recently published government data, the country’s GDP grew by 4.5% in the July-September quarter of 2019 – the lowest rate of growth since 2012-13. This is in stark contrast from the 2000s, when India was one of the world’s fastest growing economies.
This slowdown has many analysts and media commentators worried. Concern about slowing growth in India, and across the Global South in general, stems from the belief that economic growth is essential for increasing employment and reducing poverty.
However, many studies have shown that rising GDP doesn't necessarily improve people’s lives. The economist Amit Bhaduri has described India's economic boom in the 2000s as ‘predatory growth’, with forests and indigenous lands destroyed in the name of growth, shattering the livelihoods and heritages of the poor and marginalized.
