New Delhi, Jan. 31 -- With globalization in retreat and global growth impulses weakening, how can India's economy sustain a pace of 8% expansion for at least a decade? As Economic Survey 2024-25 notes, that's what Viksit Bharat would need. Its most notable prescription, thus, is deregulation. Business activity should not be micromanaged and governments in general would do well to "get out of the way".

This isn't easy, it admits, but also argues it's like "peeling an onion": after a layer of needless rules are removed, others come into view and get easier to peel. And small actions can set off a "butterfly effect" to yield big gains for business competitiveness and growth.

Small enterprises, especially, are in greater need of a lower com...