Proloy Das, PhD

India’s Missing Middle: A Society Without Values Cannot Create Prosperity India’s absence from the global middle-class map is not a statistical anomaly—it is the logical consequence of a society that has never been built on principles, values, or institutions that sustain prosperity. Bloomberg’s recent analysis rightly points out India’s fading presence in the global middle-income bracket. But the deeper truth is this: India is not merely unequal; it is structurally incapable of producing a middle class. A Hollow Growth Story For decades, India has been celebrated as “the next big market.” Economists and investors have projected a rising consumer base, a demographic dividend, and a vibrant democracy. Yet the reality is starkly different. India’s economy is polarized between a tiny elite and a vast underclass. The so-called middle class is a mirage—fragile, precarious, and dependent on patronage rather than merit. Unlike China, which built factories, infrastructure, and disciplined institutions to lift hundreds of millions into middle-income status, India has relied on slogans, subsidies, and rent-seeking. The result is an economy where luxury malls flourish for the elite, while the majority struggle for subsistence. There is no broad-based demand, no stable middle-income consumer, and no genuine ladder of upward mobility. Why Inequality Is Entrenched India’s inequality is not simply economic—it is cultural and institutional. - Caste and tribalism: Social hierarchies remain rigid. Meritocracy is suffocated by caste privilege, nepotism, and political favoritism. - Corruption as culture: Rules are bent, contracts ignored, and corruption normalized. In India, dishonesty is not an exception—it is the operating principle. - Absence of civic values: Societies that sustain a middle class are built on trust, accountability, and respect for law. India has none of these. Institutions are hollow, enforcement is arbitrary, and opportunism is the only ethic. - Protectionistic policy that punish foreign manufacturers and brands for being successful in the Indian market and dare to compete successfully against local heroes. India normally used tax and custom procedures to harrass these foreign companies. Why is value and principle important for a society? Without values, inequality becomes entrenched. Without principles, institutions collapse into corruption. And without institutions, there can be no middle class. The Mirage of Democracy India’s defenders point to its democracy as a safeguard. But democracy without values is merely populism. Elections are won through caste arithmetic, handouts, and manipulation. Policy is reactive, incoherent, and designed to appease factions rather than build institutions. The middle class, which in other societies acts as a stabilizing force, is too weak to play that role in India. Instead, politics amplifies division and entrenches inequality. Global Implications India’s failure to build a middle class has consequences beyond its borders. - Economic fragility: Without a strong middle-income base, India’s growth story is unsustainable. Domestic demand will remain polarized, vulnerable to shocks, and incapable of driving global markets. - Geopolitical weakness: India cannot credibly claim to rival China when it lacks the social and economic foundation of a middle class. - Investor caution: For global capital, India offers opportunities at the top and bottom of the pyramid—but the broad consumer market that sustains long-term investment is missing. Conclusion India’s missing middle is not a temporary setback—it is the inevitable outcome of a society that has never embraced values of fairness, merit, or accountability. Until India confronts its cultural and institutional dysfunction, it will remain a deeply unequal society, incapable of producing prosperity for the majority of its people. The world must stop indulging the fantasy of India as a rising middle-class power. The reality is harsher: India is a society without principle, and therefore without a future middle class. bloomberg.com/opinion/articl…