Why 'scarcity mindset' still persists in India
Business Daily
BBC
4.4 • 816 Ratings
🗓️ 24 February 2026
⏱️ 18 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
India is home to more than a billion people. For decades, many families lived with uncertainty around food, water and work. Even as incomes rise and the economy grows, for many people the fear of not having enough remains.
It's called 'scarcity mindset'. We find out how it impacts daily lives.
If you'd like to get in touch with the team, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk
Presented and produced by Devina Gupta
Business Daily is the home of in-depth audio journalism devoted to the world of money and work. From small startup stories to big corporate takeovers, global economic shifts to trends in technology, we look at the key figures, ideas and events shaping business.
Each episode is a 17-minute deep dive into a single topic, featuring expert analysis and the people at the heart of the story.
Recent episodes explore the weight-loss drug revolution, the growth in AI, the cost of living, why bond markets are so powerful, China's property bubble, and Gen Z's experience of the current job market.
We also feature in-depth interviews with company founders and some of the world's most prominent CEOs. These include Google's Sundar Pichai, Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales, Canva CEO Melanie Perkins, and the CEO of Starbucks, Brian Niccol.
(Picture: A person's hand holding a brown leather wallet filled with Indian Rupee currency bills. Credit: Getty Images)
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | BBC Sounds, Music, radio, podcasts. |
| 0:07.5 | Hello and Namaste. I'm Divina Gpta and this is Business Daily from the BBC World Service. |
| 0:14.2 | Today, coming to you from India. |
| 0:17.9 | India is home to more than a billion people. |
| 0:26.7 | For decades, many lived with real scarcity, be it food, electricity, water and jobs. |
| 0:31.5 | But today, even as the economy grows and millions move into the middle class, |
| 0:36.7 | where they can afford a better lifestyle, the fear of not having enough hasn't disappeared. |
| 0:39.0 | Instead, it has taken a new form. |
| 0:43.2 | When I get the food, I really eat a lot, thinking that, you know, I might not get it. |
| 0:48.3 | And even despite me earning a good amount of money and being, you know, best possible spaces. |
| 1:01.5 | You know, when other people are spending and you're not able to spend money because you feel you do not have enough, jealousy creeps and you start thinking that I don't have enough and the other person is so lucky. |
| 1:04.7 | Psychologists call it the scarcity mindset. |
| 1:14.7 | When experiences of lack sometimes pass down through the generations continue to shape how people think, spend, safe and even relate to others. |
| 1:24.8 | Plays out most crucially in the medium, small and micro enterprises. They are the ones who are rethinking, should I set up one more unit or not. |
| 1:30.1 | So on this program, we speak to people from different walks of life in India and explore living with a scarcity mindset. |
| 1:35.0 | It is quite difficult. |
| 1:36.9 | My name was around, I think, three and of four years old. |
| 1:40.1 | I remember we are staying in this hut, very small hut. |
| 1:43.0 | I don't think so four people can fit over there. |
| 1:45.4 | Bali is an IT consultant, earning nearly $600 in a month. |
| 1:49.4 | But he grew up as the son of a daily wage worker, |
| 1:52.5 | who did odd jobs and was paid at the end of the day |
... |
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