Karan Bilimoria, Baron Bilimoria and Member of the House of Lords of the United Kingdom, on Monday declared that India's demographic scale, cultural diversity, and expanding creative economy together give the country a distinctive and unmatched advantage on the global stage. Speaking at the Kautilya Economic Conclave 2026 in New Delhi, the British Indian businessman argued that conventional macroeconomic metrics alone do not capture the true depth of India's economic potential.

Beyond GDP: Culture as Economic Strength

Bilimoria noted that policy discussions on investment and growth tend to fixate on indicators such as GDP growth, per capita income, and geopolitical positioning, while underestimating the role culture plays in shaping a nation's underlying resilience. He contended that India's strength is not reducible to its status as the world's most populous country, but is reinforced by two additional and underappreciated pillars: demography and diversity.

"India's strength is not just in its scale, being the most populous country in the world, but it has two other things: demography, diversity. The diversity of India, whether it's in language, whether it's in race, whether it's in religion, whether it's in terrain, whether it's in food, whether it's in different cultures, whether it's music, dance, all over this country is beyond compare. No other country comes close to it," Bilimoria said.

The Scale of India's Diversity

Bilimoria highlighted the breadth of India's diversity spanning 22 official languages, thousands of dialects, multiple religions, distinct regional geographies, cuisines, music traditions, and dance forms. He emphasised that this mosaic is not merely a social characteristic but an economic asset that few nations can replicate. According to him, India's cultural diversity is globally unmatched and represents a structural source of competitive strength.

Creative Economy: An Underestimated Driver

The British Indian peer also drew attention to the potential of India's creative industries and media sector, arguing that the country's film industry extends well beyond Bollywood. Regional film industries across different states, he said, contribute meaningfully to India's creative economy alongside millions of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) linked to cultural production.

Bilimoria noted that the global creative economy accounts for approximately 6 per cent of global GDP, and that India commands a significant share of creative activity within its own economy. "India has huge power in the creative industries, let alone the media sector," he said. This comes amid growing international recognition of India's soft power, with Indian cinema, music, and digital content finding growing audiences worldwide.

India's Distinctive Global Position

Bilimoria concluded that India's combination of scale, youthful demography, unparalleled diversity, and creative capabilities places it in a position no other country occupies. Notably, his remarks arrive at a time when India is actively positioning itself as a global economic and cultural leader, with policymakers increasingly referencing soft power alongside manufacturing and services in growth narratives.

The Kautilya Economic Conclave, named after the ancient Indian strategist, is a prominent platform for economic and policy discourse, drawing business leaders, policymakers, and international voices to debate India's growth trajectory.