India, like most democratic developing nations, is prone to populist politics. In the search of votes, politicians look for popular solutions with mass appeal. Some popular solutions benefit the poor, some hurt the economy. Poor economics leads to falling numbers. These numbers get statistically captured as economic data. And, the impact of such economic data is immense. This data can lift or crash currency markets, stock markets, affect credit ratings, fuel inflation, affect new investments and even result in mass layoffs.

However, there is always a story behind the economics. This story is guided mostly by executive decisions. Some decisions are far-reaching and beneficial to the masses, some cater to political vote banks, some are guided by increasing activism, some serve the need for social justice, some are aimed at environmental protection, while some are simply driven by the greed of power or wealth.

This is the story of this and every regime. The book narrates this compelling economic story in a layman's language. Even where data is wrong it leaves behind a tell-tale mark of anomalies, which trips the economy sooner than later. India Emerging thus captures this dialogue on the pros and cons of economic and political decisions that can be understood by the common voter who is neither an economist nor an academician.

Sandip Sen is an author, journalist and a TV commentator. He has worked for The Indian Express, Delhi Press and IPP as an editor and has authored two books. He has been published by national newspapers such as The Times of India, Hindustan Times, DNA, Hindu Business Line, The Economic Times, Financial Express, besides think tanks like CSE, TERI and ORF for more than a decade. Prior to journalism, he worked for 10 years in the energy industry and 22 years in manufacturing.

Aarohi Sen is a principal at Accenture. He is a thought leader researching on the impact of digital technologies on large industrial enterprises. He joined Accenture in 2007 and has worked on ideas of innovation, the future of IT and manufacturing operations. He has been a contributor to leading business periodicals such as The Harvard Business Review, The European Business Review, Fortune and Mint. The views expressed in the book are his own and not of Accenture.