Will India grow old before it gets rich?

Akshara· Host0:00

[upbeat music] In today's episode, we'll break down two important stories. First, we'll talk about whether India will grow old before it grows rich, and then we'll talk about an armor for the Indian Railways. Welcome back to The Daily Brief by Zerodha, where we cut through the noise to help you understand what's actually happening in the most important stories from business and markets. If you're listening to this on your commute, on a walk, or at the gym, you can also find The Daily Brief as an audio podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your podcasts. I'm your host Akshara, and today is Monday, 20th April. Coming to the first story. In India, the unemployment rate for illiterates is 3%. For graduates aged 15 to 24, it's 40%. It seems that the more educated you are in this country, the more likely you are to be jobless. But that doesn't mean education is worthless. But perhaps education creates aspirations that the economy struggles to absorb, while someone more illiterate takes whatever survival work is available. A graduate holds out for something better, and that something better for millions may never arrive. Now, this isn't a new problem. The State of Working India 2026 report traces four decades of labor data to show that graduate unemployment for the youngest cohort has been stuck between 35% to 40% since 1983. Through liberalization, through the IT boom, through Make in India, through a startup revolution, nothing moved it.