Essential India

Essential India helps you understand a vast and complicated country that will increasingly shape the future. India has the world’s biggest population and in recent years has had one of its fastest-growing economies with a large and thriving business and tech scene. It is the world’s biggest democracy, an almost miraculous achievement for such a poor and diverse country—even if its politics has grown increasingly authoritarian under Narendra Modi. India is emerging as an important player on the geopolitical stage, in hock neither to China nor America, and as a self-styled leader of the global south. Each week our correspondents will share their insights on the big Indian news and business developments, keeping you in the loop with everything from cricket to technology, social trends and electoral politics.