Incredible India! 40 facts that will make you proud

As India celebrates its 68th Independence Day on August 15, there many reasons to feel good about India’s economic glory.

We present facts on the Indian economy that will make you really proud.

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1. Despite India’s weaknesses, the economy has grown to become the world’s tenth largest by nominal GDP and the third-largest by purchasing power parity (PPP).

2. Signaling a sign of good times, the National Council of Applied Economic Research (NCAER) expects India's GDP to grow at 5.2-5.7 per cent this fiscal year.

3. Global rating agency Moody's said the country's GDP will grow by 5 per cent this year and rise further in 2015. 

4. By 2030, India will become the world’s third largest with an economy of $30.3 trillion, after China ($73.5 trillion) and US ($38.2 trillion) according to Standard Chartered. India could be 8.4 times bigger than it is today by 2030.

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5. Another sign of a better prospects, India's foreign exchange reserves have zoomed to $320.564 billion, according to RBI.

6. India has turned into an attractive destination to invest in. Foreign direct investment (FDI) into India grew by 17 per cent last year to $28 billion, according to a United Nations report.

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7. India's love affair with gold is steady. It ranks tenth in the world in gold reserves. The official gold holdings stand at 557.7 tonnes, according to World Gold Council estimates.

8. India is one of the world's largest hubs for diamond and jewellery manufacturing.

9. India is also the second largest consumer of gold in the world. 

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10. India's biggest strength is its vibrant services. It has the distinction of being the sixth largest services exporter in the world, according to Wikimedia Commons.

11. India's total exports grew by 10.22 per cent to $26.4 billion in June this year. 

12. Software exports, which is another big revenue spinner for the economy is expected to rise to $99 billion, according to Nasscom. The Indian IT industry is currently pegged at $118 billion. 

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13. With a road network that stretches across 33 lakh kms, India has the world's second largest road network, states NHAI.

14. India prides to have the fourth largest rail network in the world. It has a track length which spans 115,000 kilometres and has 7,172 stations, states Wikimedia Commons.

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15. Indian banking sector employs 1,175,149 people and its 151 commercial banks have 109,811 branches across India. 

Indian banks manage deposits to the tune of Rs 67,504.54 billion ($1.1 trillion), according to Wikimedia Commons.

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16. Telecom is another success story in India. Telecom subscriber base in India stands at 944.81 million as of July 2014, according to TRAI.

17. Thanks to the telecom revolution, the number of telephone subscribers in India increased from 915.19 million at the end of December 2013 to 944.81 million now. 

18. Among the states, Uttar Pradesh tops with highest number of mobile users followed by Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra. 

19. The total number of Internet subscription has increased from 238.71 million at the end of December 2013 to 251.59 million.

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20. Bombay Stock Exchange in India is the oldest exchange in Asia with over 5,000 listed companies.

21. These companies together account for a total market capitalisation of $1.51 trillion as of May 2014, according to Wikimedia Commons. 

22. The postal department in India offers one of the most efficient services. India has the largest postal network in the world with over 1,55,015 post offices.

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23. People form the backbone of Indian economy. India has the world’s second largest labour force with 487 million workers in 2012, states Wikimedia Commons. 

24. Another reason to cheer India’s education and high standards of learning is the fact that a large number of scientists and engineers are from India. 

25. India’s biggest strength is that 65 per cent of its population is of 35 years, according to Wikimedia Commons. 

26. India will have another feather in its cap with 64 per cent of its population in the working age category by 2020, according to a report by IRIS Knowledge Foundation.

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27. India is home to the eighth largest group of super rich people in the world, as there are as many as 14,800 multi-millionaires in the country, finds a report by New World Wealth.

28. India’s financial capital Mumbai with 2,700 multi-millionaires, is among the top 25 cities globally for multi-millionaires.

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29. One of the largest automobile markets in the world, India manufactured 20,626,227 vehicles in 2012-13, says SIAM.

India has the world's sixth largest passenger car and commercial vehicle manufacturing industry with Maruti Suzuki being a market leader. 

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30. Farming being the mainstay of the economy, it is not surprising that India ranks second in farm output in the world.

31. India is the world’s largest producer in the world of milk, jute and pulses. 

32. India ranks second in rice, wheat, sugarcane, cotton and groundnut production. 

33. India is ranked world’s fourth in steel production in 2013 with an output of 81.2 million tonnes.

(Data: Wikimedia Commons)

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34. The $16 billion Indian aviation sector has the potential to become the third-largest aviation market in the world by 2020 and the largest by 2030, says a Ficci-KPMG report.

35. India is set to become the "world’s largest middle class consumer market with an aggregated consumer spend of nearly $13 trillion by 2030," according to Deloitte. 

36. India is one of the fastest growing retail markets in the world. India's retail market is expected to  grow at 7 per cent over the next 10 years to $850 billion market by 2020, says Ficci.

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37. Foreign investors invested about Rs 6,800 crore ($1.3 billion) in the stock market in April 2014. 

38. The total investment by foreign institutional investors (FIIs) in equities since January 2014 has zoomed to  a high of Rs 28,979 crore ($4.78 billion).

(PTI)
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39. India has three of the world's top ten megacities – Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata according to a United Nations study.

40. Among the world’s most attractive outsourcing hubs, Bangalore rules supreme. Bangalore along with Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Chennai, Hyderabad and Pune are the most attractive IT/ITeS outsourcing location in the world, says a study by consulting firm Tholons.