India A Middle Income Country By 2015: FM

Finance Minister P Chidambaram has said that he expects the country''s per capita income to touch $4,000 by 2025, shattering all forecasts by global economic analysts.A BRIC report has forecast India''s per capita income would touch $800 by 2010 and $1,149 by 2015. But we have exploded this assumption as our per capita income has already touched $1,000 this year and expect it to touch $4,000 by 2025, FM said.

Today one cannot get a farm labourer for below Rs 80, carpenter won''t be available for less than Rs 150 and a senior mason will charge Rs 200. People are demanding and getting more. This aspiration is driving consumption which will make India a middle income country in next 15-20 years, said Finance Minister. Chidambaram said that assumptions on Indian cell phone market given in a book had already been proved wrong by consumers.

It has been said that India''s cell phone usage will not double to 400 million users from 200 million very easily. This assumption has been blown to pieces. We are adding 60 million users annually, he said.India is a fast changing market driven by people''s aspirations to lead a better life and move up the ladder. This aspiration is breaking down class and caste barriers, he said. India is a fast changing market, which cannot be captured in a series of articles, essays or books. By the time a book is written, edited and published much of what has been written would become outdated. This makes India an exciting place to be in, the Finance Minister said.According to him, markets will move faster than trade analysts and Vice-Presidents of Marketing of large companies to comprehend.