The market to watch: many people believe that the 21st century will be China's. China is already transforming the global economic landscape, yet it will not be alone. In India, there is an economy with a potential to match or even exceed China in the longer run.

• Author: Preiss, Michael
• Position: FOCUS ON INDIA

Under the stewardship of what Indians locally often refer to as the Dream Team--Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Finance Minister P Chidambaram and Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, deputy head of the India Planning Commission--the country is in the throes of a historic economic revolution.

Despite having Communists in the coalition, the government is turning away from the Fabian socialism that has dominated since Independence in 1947. Local business is restructuring to meet global competition and going all out to attract foreign business interest.

In this 21st century, it is estimated that every sixth human being will be Indian. Not only is the Indian population more than a billion but 600 million of them are under the age of 25. India is likely to emerge as the world's second-largest consumer market, with a middle class numbering over half a billion.

Travelling and talking to businessmen in India, you will notice the paradoxes and ironies of the world's largest democracy. Indians apparently buy two million new mobile phones a month, but the World Bank estimates that 300 million people live on the less than US$1 a day. It is a country of fabulous wealth and terrible poverty. And, according to a recent World Bank report, it still takes 89 days to register a company in India and another ten years to "officially" go bankrupt.

Despite its many...