The Great Energy Flip: How India is Sidestepping China's Growth Trap
Inside the Clash Between Legacy Overcapacity and Lean Industrialization This article examines the divergent developmental trajectories of China and India through the lens of energy transition, infrastructure investment, and asset utilization. China's growth model between 2002 and 2012 created formidable industrial capacity but left a legacy of stranded assets, including underutilized coal plants and vacant housing units. India, arriving at its infrastructure peak in the mid-2020s, benefits from collapsing solar costs and digital public infrastructure that enables leaner growth. While China struggles with industrial involution, India navigates a corrected growth path where democratic friction acts as a filter against over-leveraging. Yet both nations face critical inflection points: China seeks to export overcapacity via the Belt and Road Initiative, while India must bridge the storage chasm to sustain momentum. The comparison reveals a fundamental rethinking of how emerging econo...
