India under the microscope: A global investor 'conundrum'

How the emerging market giant is plotting its next growth path

In the spirit of this week's Hindu celebration of Diwali, which celebrates the victory of light over darkness and knowledge over ignorance, Investment Week takes a look at India's struggle to maintain and expand one of the world's best-known secular growth stories.

India has been one of the strongest growth stories over the last 50 years, with its economy having accelerated without any significant reversals over this entire time, according to data from World Bank Asia. Headwinds and opportunities in rural India During the 1970s and 1980s, growth averaged 4.4%; this then increased to 5.5% between the 1990s and the 2000s and, over the last decade, GDP has averaged out at 7.1%. This has been reflected in the performance of its stockmarket, with the MSCI India index up more than 671% since the start of 2001 according to FE - which is as far back ...