India's Districts Will Drive the Next Decade of Growth | ft. Shashank Mani | Ep 29 | Growth is Good

In this episode of Growth is Good, Piyush Doshi sits down with Shashank Mani, Member of Parliament from Deoria and founder of Jagriti Yatra, to explore how economic growth can be built from India’s districts.They discuss why India’s next growth engines may lie beyond its largest cities, how local entrepreneurship can create jobs where people live, and what it would take to bring investment and labour-intensive manufacturing to districts such as Deoria.Drawing on his experience with Jagriti Yatra, Jagriti Udyam Kendra and Amrit Prayas, Shashank Mani explains his idea of “Middle of Diamond India”: an emerging middle of entrepreneurs and citizens who have enormous economic potential but limited institutional support. He shares examples of rural call centres, women-led enterprises and local businesses that are creating jobs in eastern Uttar Pradesh.The conversation also examines why district-level development requires government, society and the private sector to work together. Mani argues that ease of doing business must begin with a shift from control to trust, and explains how colonial-era administrative processes, excessive documentation and the absence of entrepreneurship-support institutions continue to constrain enterprise.Finally, they discuss Viksit Bharat, decentralisation, humanist economics and the “Banyan Revolution”: a movement to unlock human potential and build an entrepreneurial ecosystem across India’s Tier 2 and Tier 3 districts.Watch the full episode to understand how India’s districts can become engines of enterprise, employment and national growth.00:00 Introduction02:00 Why economic growth is personal for Shashank Mani03:38 Amrit Prayas: bringing growth into politics07:09 Jagriti Yatra and “Middle of Diamond India”11:00 Creating local jobs through entrepreneurship16:00 Bringing manufacturing to smaller districts18:54 Decentralisation and district-level development21:45 What should Viksit Bharat look like?26:29 Strengthening India’s emerging middle31:07 Deregulation, trust and ease of doing business37:15 Humanist economics and the Banyan Revolution#GrowthIsGood #EconomicGrowth #Entrepreneurship #Deregulation #ViksitBharat #India