Investor and founder of investment management company Bridgewater Associates, Ray Dalio, has said India currently has the highest growth rate and that none of its issues are going to stop that growth. He also likened India to China from the 1980s and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to former leader of People’s Republic of China, Deng Xiaoping, who is widely credited for opening up the Chinese economy to foreign investors.
“Every conclusion that I have is a function of measuring statistics and having them as leading indicators. And we have a 10-year growth rate estimate for India. India has the highest potential growth rate,” said Ray Dalio in a podcast at the All-In Summit 2023 at UCLA campus in Los Angeles. The summit was hosted by the All-In Podcast, which include Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, David Sacks & David Friedberg.
Ray Dalio also compared India to China of 1984. “I think India is where China was when I started to go in 1984. So if you look at the complexion, the per capita income…and I think Modi is Deng Xiaoping…so that you have a massive development, creativity…all those elements,” he said.
The investor had compared India with China from 1984 earlier too. Following the success of Chandrayaan-3 mission, Dalio had tweeted, “It [India] has the right mix of ingredients that shows that it has great potential and the right leadership to catalyze it. It reminds me a lot of China in 1984 (when I first went) around the time Deng Xiaoping made his reform and opening up policies that catalyzed China.”
“There are of course issues, risk issues, but India is very important. Now there is a religious internal issue having to do with the population of 240 million Muslims…but I don’t think any of these issues is going to stop India,” said Ray Dalio on the podcast summit.
The investor also underscored that neutral countries tend to do better than the rest. “Also in history the countries that were the neutral countries did the best…so in other words, better than the winners in wars. So as we have this conflict between US and China and its allies, Russia and so on, countries that are in the middle like India are going to be net beneficiaries of that,” he said.
Dalio had met PM Modi during his US visit in June and discussed the reforms undertaken by the government to foster growth, including reduction of compliances and decriminalisation of a large number of legal provisions. PM Modi had invited Dalio to make further investments in the country. Dalio had said then that India’s potential is enormous and is at a juncture where a lot of opportunities will be created.
Also read: Chandrayaan-3 landing: Ray Dalio says India reminds him ‘a lot of China in 1984’
Also read: 'Potential of India is enormous..': Billionaire investor Ray Dalio after meeting PM Modi