Grand Tamasha
Grand Tamasha
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
India’s Middle Class Hits a Breaking Point
56 minutes Posted Apr 15, 2026 at 1:00 am.
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For decades, India’s growth story has rested on the spectacular rise of its middle class. But a new book argues that this very group—roughly 40 million income-tax–paying households—is now under acute strain. Facing a convergence of job disruption, wage stagnation, and rising debt, the middle class may no longer be the engine of growth it once was. This is the argument made in a new book titled, Breakpoint: The Crisis of the Middle Class and the Future of Work. It is authored by Saurabh Mukherjea, along with Nandita Rajhansa and Sapana Bhavsar.