Young India has a 'Virat Kohli mentality', not scared of anyone, says Raghuram Rajan

Former RBI governor Raghuram Rajan

Young India thinks like Virat Kohli and refuses to be inferior to anyone in the world, former Reserve Bank of India governor Raghuram Rajan on said April 17.

“They want to actually expand more globally. I think there is a young India that has a Virat Kohli mentality: I'm second to none in the world,” Rajan said at a conference, Making India an Advanced Economy by 2047: What Will it Take, at the George Washington University in Washington.

The former RBI governor said that many Indians innovators are leaving the country to set up their ventures in the US or Singapore.

“We need to ask what is it that forces them to go outside of India to set up rather than stay inside India? But what is really heartwarming is talking to some of these entrepreneurs and seeing their desire to change the world and increasingly many of them are not happy staying in India," Rajan said.

“I think we are in the midst of it (demographic dividend), but the problem is we are not reaping the benefits."

Rajan also highlighted that unemployment is really high and disguised unemployment is even higher, which is why thousands of PhDs are applying for the position of peons in railways. “Labour force participation is low, female labour force participation is really alarmingly low, and the share of agriculture jobs is increasing in recent times,” the governor said.

With inputs from PTI