Second Republic

The Second Republic is a comprehensive institutional blueprint for India's transition into a developed economy (Viksit Bharat) by 2047. In this book, Ghani, a former World Bank economist and a prominent voice in Indian developmental economics, moves beyond traditional policy debates to focus on the State capacity engine, with his most compelling diagnostic being the two-engine trap. Since the 1991 reforms, India has developed a high-performance private sector engine; however, this is tethered to an obsolete state engine, characterized by nineteenth-century colonial structures and twentieth-century socialist bureaucracy. To address this, India not only needs new laws but a 'Second Republic', a fundamental re-architecting of the state's core institutions to match the dynamism of its people. The book introduces the 4F architecture--functions, finances, functionaries, and foundations--as the integrated mechanism for national renewal, analysing why previous reforms have often stalled. With themes including unlocking the gender dividend (Shakti Superpower), building a modern justice platform, and navigating the geoeconomic frontier of artificial intelligence and climate change, it focuses on the 'plumbing' of the nation: the courts, civil services, and digital systems. A manifesto for 2047, The Second Republic is a timely intervention, shifting the goalposts from 'growth at any cost' to 'growth through institutional excellence', making it an essential read for those trying to understand why India's path to $30 trillion requires more than just capital.

Previously Lead Economist at the World Bank, Ejaz Ghani is currently Senior Fellow at the Pune International Centre and Senior Visiting Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), New Delhi. Prior to joining the World Bank, he taught economics at St. Anne's College (University of Oxford) and Shri Ram College of Commerce (University of Delhi). He writes economic opinion columns for Business Standard, The Hindu, Financial Express, Mint, VoxEU, and Project Syndicate, and is an agenda contributor for the World Economic Forum. He has edited several books, including India's Pathways to Success: Winning in the Next Decade (Rupa, 2023; with Ganesh Natarajan); Reshaping Tomorrow--Is South Asia Ready for the Big Leap? (OUP, 2011); and The Poor Half Billion in South Asia (OUP, 2010). Dr. Ghani has an M.Phil. & D.Phil. in Economics from the University of Oxford, and is an Inlaks scholar.