The number of women rejecting facial hair appeared to surprise many Indian cultural commentators. Indian women’s magazines have printed letters to the editor saying how happy they are that the great Indian mustache may be trimmed, a sentiment that many young women here say they agree with.  “The mustache represents all the aspects of old India — the corruption, the baddie cop in an old film, the government job for life — that the young generation want to leave behind,” said Richard McCallum a pogonologist, or student of facial hair. “Besides, no one wants to look like their parents.”

In 2001, when the last census was taken, only 28% of the Indian population—about 285 million people—lived in urban settings and by 2030 40% of population will be urban. By 2030, India’s total population will be around 1.5 billion—the largest in the world—therefore, the urban population will be around 600 million, more than twice as much as in 2001.

There are five questions with far-reaching implications:

1. Where will these additional 300 million people live?  There are vast stretches of the country where there is little employment or urban growth and that has to change.
2. What type of settlements are likely to absorb such a large population growth: new or existing ones? India’s experiment with creating new settlements has resulted in some cities but II and III tier cities needs to take on the main burden.
3. How large can a metropolis become? Mumbai has gone from a population of eight million in 1981, to 12 million in 1991, to 18 million in 2001—a 50% growth rate per decade. That level of growth cannot be sustained in the future.
4. How will people get into and around a city that has grown to a population of, let’s say, 30 million by 2030? How many airports and miles of highway will it need, and is there a train system that can handle this amount of people? If a subway system is not feasible, should elevated rail systems be used? What are the local environmental and energy implications of moving so many people around on a regular basis? It is not clear that there has been much thinking on transportation alternatives for this impending city.
5. Where will the poor live in this city? If current trends continue, it’s quite possible that Indian cities will become symbols of a new apartheid, with vast slums surrounding enclaves of middle-class comfort.

India’s experiment with creating new settlements has resulted in some cities but II and III tier cities needs to take on the main burden going forward.  New and different urban cities need to be developed in the future.

He specifically writes about economic activity in Dharavi Slum where poor people are managing to eke out a living as entrepreneurs.  The entrepreneurial energy one feels in the slums of India is a classic example of creative minds of individuals to better their life. These individuals collectively contribute to the economic engine of India.

He concludes that India is a nation where private citizens, both rich and poor, do amazing things despite tremendous failures of the public sector.

India can learn from China to develop light manufacturing to provide employment for tens of millions of surplus farm laborers.  Better urban management will be an imperative as more Indians flock to cities in search of work.

Now, after a decisive general election victory for the Congress party, markets is anticipating the prospect that political and policy continuity will allow India to start closing the development gap with China.

India has a unique chance to finally live up to the hype ‘India Shining’.