Is Inclusive Economic Growth Possible Without Economic Democracy? Inequality and Distribution in Contemporary India

India has emerged as one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and is projected to become the third-largest global economy in the coming decade. However, this impressive macroeconomic performance coexists with persistent and deepening economic inequality, raising critical questions about the inclusiveness of India’s growth process. Drawing on evidence from the World Inequality Report 2024, this article examines the scale, patterns, and structural drivers of income and wealth inequality in contemporary India. It situates current inequality trends within a broader historical, constitutional, and political-economy framework, with particular reference to Dr. B. R. Ambedkar’s conception of economic democracy. The article argues that India’s growth trajectory has increasingly favoured capital accumulation and wealth concentration at the top, while the majority of the population remains economically insecure, marked by low incomes, informal employment, and limited access to productive assets. It concludes that without substantive economic democracy, i.e., anchored in redistribution, employment security, and universal access to human development, economic growth cannot be inclusive or sustainable.