When the talk turns to China, you can tell India is feeling improved. During Delhi’s late-2000s boom, bullish types often said that Asia’s third-largest economy would overtake its larger neighbour’s double-digit growth rates. It never did. Instead, years of political drift and a spate of graft scandals left Indian optimists chastened.
Those comparisons with China are now making a minor comeback, reflecting new-found energy under Narendra Modi, who marks 100 days in office as prime minister today. But they are also potentially worrying signs of overconfidence, in a recovery that remains both gradual and fragile.
The cause for the latest wave of euphoria arrived last Friday, with data showing India expanding at an unexpectedly buoyant 5.7 per cent in the first quarter, its best figures since early 2012. Industrial growth jumped too, after two flat years.