India's shining hopes.

In 2003, India seemed in a sorry state. One year on, in the phrase of its government's propaganda campaign, "India is shining". The risk of war seems remote and a historic settlement with Pakistan seems possible. After a dozen years of opening up and liberalizing, India's economy is still relatively small by global measures. On one estimate India's labor force will expand by 50 percent more than all of East Asia's put together. Without further structural reform, such a growth spurt seems unlikely. But this survey will argue that this is indeed a moment of shining economic opportunity for India, and that if Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's Bharatiya Janata Party succeeds in leading its coalition to another election victory, it should be better placed to take advantage of it, and pursue the necessary reform, than has been any government in recent years.