In this episode of Investing in India, we explore India’s economic evolution through the lens of Akhilesh Tilotia, a former analyst at Kotak, government advisor, and now co-founder at Thurro. Initially approaching India’s transformation top-down, Tilotia highlighted broad structural shifts in The Making of India (2015), including issues like the “private cost of public failure,” where public infrastructure fails to deliver, leading to rising private costs.

His subsequent government experience at the National Investment and Infrastructure Fund provided insight into the complex stakeholder dynamics behind policymaking. His second book, Through the Looking Glass (2021), reflects this more nuanced understanding, particularly the friction between expert advice and political representation in a democracy.

Now, with Thurro, he uses bottom-up data to validate macroeconomic trends, especially tax base expansion and income growth. He shows India’s tax-to-GDP ratio is slowly improving, with more citizens entering the formal tax net.

This conversation offers you insights on :

•  Top-Down Analysis of India
• Role of Policy in Market Formation
• Labour and Employment Challenges
• Urbanisation patterns
• Governance and Stakeholder Balance
• Bottom-Up Data and Tax Insights
• Generalist Perspective on India

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